Valtteri Bottas opened up on the "grief" felt by everyone involved with Mercedes after Lewis Hamilton was cruelly denied the 2021 title at the death.
The blockbuster title race that season was infamously won by Max Verstappen, who overtook the Brit on the last lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. He was able to do so after then-race director Michael Masi's "human error" in his handling of a safety car period late in the race.
Masi was later removed from his position and the FIA conceded that it had been his mistake which changed the outcome of the championship. But that was little comfort to Hamilton and Mercedes who found the outcome very difficult to accept.
Amid all the controversy the fact it was Bottas' last race with the team after five years got a little lost – publicly, at least. Appearing on the Beyond the Grid podcast, the Finn was asked about what he could recall from those final days before making the switch to current team Alfa Romeo.
"I had a headache the next day, that's what I remember," he joked, before giving a more sombre response. "The aftermath was painful. The whole team was really suffering. Lewis was down, Toto was down. When you lose the drivers' title like that on the last lap, it was unreal.
"Just big, big disappointment for everybody and it took a while to recover for everyone in the team. It wasn't my greatest memory. It was probably the best time to leave! It was a bit strange, the last time I went to the factory.
"They paid this huge respect and I was so thankful for everything they did at the end. When I left, there was fireworks and all the people lined up in the factory. It was actually quite emotional and to walk away in that situation and grief in the team was not the ideal."
Since Bottas' Mercedes exit, Hamilton has referred to the Finn as his favourite F1 team-mate. Bottas says he still has a "good friendship" with the seven-time world champion and also gets along very well with former boss Toto Wolff, who is part of his management team now that he is no longer employed by Mercedes.
The 33-year-old added: "I've known him for a long, long time and we still have a chat every now and then. He seems a bit stressed at the moment, which is fair because the only thing good for him is winning. Nothing else. It's just not good enough. I'm sure he's pushing himself and everyone to the limit to get back to the front. He's obviously a busy man, but still a good friend."
