https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/bott ... g/6874601/
Bottas: Higher mileage F1 engine cost at least 0.2s in qualifying
By:
Luke Smith
Dec 11, 2021, 8:35 PM
Valtteri Bottas says a switch back to a higher mileage power unit ahead of Abu Dhabi Formula 1 qualifying cost him at least 0.2 seconds, leaving him sixth on the grid.
"In Q2, I think I did my best laptime and I could never improve that," Bottas told the written media at the Yas Marina Circuit on Saturday evening. "It felt like the more I tried, it felt like the set-up didn't have any more in it.
"I went for a quite soft set-up mechanically and I feel it's really good for the race, and I was hoping it should still be OK for the quali. But the grip was improving quite a lot. so that's one thing.
"We had to change to an older PU for today, which I knew that it was, compared to yesterday, at least two tenths."
Bottas said Mercedes felt "more confident with this PU for the reliability", reasoning the decision to make the switch to an engine which was technically introduced more recently but has accrued more mileage
.