Breaking news
Formula 1 Emilia-Romagna GP
Bottas wants answers over lack of yellow flags after debris hit
Valtteri Bottas wants to know why there were no yellow flags out, warning him about the debris he hit on lap two of the Formula 1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Jonathan Noble
Published: Nov 4, 2020, 2:19 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The Finn had led the Imola race from pole position but his hopes of victory suffered a blow on lap two when he struck a front wing endplate from Sebastian Vettel’s car that had been left on the track at Tosa corner.
Vettel’s part had come off his car when he collided with Kevin Magnussen on the first lap, and no attempt appeared to have been made by marshals to remove it before the cars came around again.
As the first car on the road, Bottas struck the piece. Having only spotted it at the last second, he managed to avoid running across it with his tyres and instead aimed for it go under the middle of his car.
But despite avoiding the risk of an immediate puncture, the endplate damaged Bottas’ floor before getting lodged near the diffuser area.
The incident cost Bottas around 0.8 seconds per laps of performance, with team data showing it had robbed the car of around 50 points of downforce.
Speaking after the race, Bottas said he was interested to know why the debris had been left there and why there were no yellow warning flags out.
“Actually, I got a warning from my engineers that they could see some gravel, maybe, on lap two in turn seven, because they could see some kind of warning somewhere,” said Bottas. “But there was no yellow flag.
“It was a big piece of debris and I didn’t have enough time to react, to go around it. I only had time to decide how I’m going to hit the debris and I decided to go straight over instead with the tyres.
“So it would be good to get more of an understanding why there was not any sign [warning] of a big piece of carbon, because obviously it’s dangerous if there’s flying things around. But it sure didn’t help my race.”
Read Also:
- Mercedes didn't believe sensors over Bottas's debris strike
- Bottas says he couldn't avoid Vettel's broken endplate
Although Bottas managed to hold on to the race lead for a while after hitting the Ferrari part, he eventually slipped back as the damage to his car led to inconsistent handling.
His Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton managed to take the lead after running a longer opening stint, and Bottas had looked set to finish third before Max Verstappen’s exit with a puncture promoted him back to second.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Kvyat's Imola result not down to luck - AlphaTauri
Next article Tsunoda wowed by power, physicality in first AlphaTauri F1 test
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jonathan Noble
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
Formula 1
Formula 1
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Formula 1
Formula 1
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
More from
Valtteri Bottas
Colton Herta qualifies for F1 superlicence as Valtteri Bottas remains bullish on 2027 seat
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
14 h
Colton Herta qualifies for F1 superlicence as Valtteri Bottas remains bullish on 2027 seat
Cadillac to investigate high-speed Mexico GP failure that led to angry Valtteri Bottas reaction
Formula 1
Formula 1
Mexican GP
Cadillac to investigate high-speed Mexico GP failure that led to angry Valtteri Bottas reaction
You Ask The Questions: Valtteri Bottas
Formula 1
Canadian GP
You Ask The Questions: Valtteri Bottas
More from
Mercedes
Why Toto Wolff sees Ferrari clash as "déjà vu" – and why escalation may be necessary
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
11 h
Why Toto Wolff sees Ferrari clash as "déjà vu" – and why escalation may be necessary
"Exhausted" George Russell set for Brazilian F1 grid penalty
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
16 h
"Exhausted" George Russell set for Brazilian F1 grid penalty
Latest news
Kaden Honeycutt: "I put my nuts on the dash" to win Homestead and NASCAR Truck title
NASCAR Truck
NSTR NASCAR Truck
Homestead
4 h
Kaden Honeycutt: "I put my nuts on the dash" to win Homestead and NASCAR Truck title
Chase Briscoe leads NASCAR Cup Homestead practice; Larson brushes wall and Reddick wrecks
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
7 h
Chase Briscoe leads NASCAR Cup Homestead practice; Larson brushes wall and Reddick wrecks
Hamlin and Bell left with what could have been in NASCAR Chase
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
7 h
Hamlin and Bell left with what could have been in NASCAR Chase
Why Max Verstappen ended F1 practice early in Brazil – Red Bull explains
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
9 h
Why Max Verstappen ended F1 practice early in Brazil – Red Bull explains
Feature
Discover prime content
How F1’s rules got to be so complex
Formula 1
By Pat Symonds
How F1’s rules got to be so complex
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe