Bottas will be "annoyed as hell" following Monaco setback, according to Wolff
- Bobby Vincent
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says the setback at the Monaco Grand Prix will "annoy the hell out of Valtteri Bottas".
Bottas had provisional pole position, only for it to be snatched away from him following Lewis Hamilton's fastest lap right at the end of Q3 on Saturday. Bottas then fell third in the race following an incident with Max Verstappen in the pit-lane.
It was the first time all season that a Mercedes had been beaten by another car, with Sebastian Vettel finishing in P2 following Verstappen's five-second penalty that saw him fall down from the podium.
Wolff believes the contact between Verstappen's Red Bull and Bottas "ruined both races": "Max lost a position because of the penalty and the manoeuvre and Valtteri loast a second-place, three points more that are lost, and Mercedes lost a one-two.
"From the team's point we are super-happy with a one and three and from Valtteri's point, he will be gutted because he had the pace the weekend, he could have been on pole in terms of raw speed and today P2 was the minimum I think and tha P2 was taken away from him."
Bottas has made a very encouraging start to the season - already winning two more races than his win-less 2018 season - and Wolff believes the Finn will come back "stronger" following his latest setback in Monaco.
"I think he has shown huge resilience and determination in these last two races," the Mercedes team principal admitted. "The speed was mind-boggling (in qualifying), and I have no doubt it's going to annoy the hell out of him and he's going to come back very strong in Montreal."