From lights out at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday, things went from bad to worse for Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas.
The Finnish driver crashed into the back of McLaren’s Lando Norris after late braking in damp conditions at the first corner saw him losing control of his Mercedes and take out 4 other contenders.
Norris was catapulted into the Red Bull of Max Verstappen, while Bottas careered into the second Charging Bull of Sergio Perez in a disastrous opening 600m.
The race was red-flagged due to the huge amount of debris left on the circuit, bringing an end to the day for Bottas, Perez, Norris, Stroll, and Leclerc.
Norris was able to limp back to the pits under the red flag, but his team then discovered serious damage on his car meaning he was unable to return to the race.
Before the end of Sunday’s Grand Prix, the stewards announced that Bottas would receive a five-place grid drop for the next round in Spa after the summer break for causing the collision – describing it as ‘avoidable’.
As well as the five-place grid penalty, Bottas also received two points on his FIA super licence, meaning he has now received 4 in a 12-month period.
The report from the stewards read; “Immediately after the start, in the braking zone to Turn 1, car 77 collided with the rear of car 4.
“The stewards took into consideration the track conditions, however, the driver of car 77 was fully to blame for the collision.”
Speaking after the horrendous incident, Bottas said; “I had a poor start with lots of wheelspin off the line, lost a couple of places and then into turn one.
“I was right on the gearbox of Lando and locked the wheels. I misjudged the braking point – it’s always
difficult starting a race in those conditions, you’re always ‘guesstimating’ grip levels and today I got it
wrong.
“I’ve spoken to Lando and Checo to apologise, it was my bad today and sometimes you have to
hold your hands up.”
