Breaking news: Valtteri Bottas penalized for his collision with Daniel Ricciardo
The Finn and the Australian were summoned to the stewards after the race following their collision at the first corner in the final laps. Bottas was found responsible and received a 10-second penalty added to his race time, without any impact on the standings.
After a clash with Sebastian Vettel, Valtteri Bottas had to defend his position against Daniel Ricciardo in the final laps. The wing of the Mercedes was heavily damaged but the Finn stayed on track.
The two men arrived side by side at the braking of the first corner, and the lack of grip from the Mercedes caused Bottas to hit the right side of Ricciardo’s Red Bull as he was attempting an overtake on the outside. Fortunately, both men were able to continue their race, despite the badly damaged cars.
That’s a Danny Ric shaped hole in the Mercedes after Bottas ran into him at Turn One #SkyF1 #F1 #HungarianGP pic.twitter.com/IcluCXky9E
— Sky Sports F1 🏎 (@SkySportsF1) 29 juillet 2018
On the radio, the Mercedes team asked its driver to give back his position to the Red Bull driver who was in front during the impact, but Bottas refused. Ricciardo was able to overtake the Finn without any trouble, knowing that the incident would be examined after the race.
Finally, Bottas is indeed found guilty of this contact, even though he had been cleared of any suspicion for his collision with Vettel a few laps earlier.
NEWS: @ValtteriBottas has been awarded a 10s post-race time penalty after contact with Ricciardo – he remains P5 🇭🇺 #HungarianGP pic.twitter.com/Yklg4ScDvY
— Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) 29 juillet 2018
This penalty from race control adds to the negative outcome of his Hungarian weekend. Earlier, he was informed by Sky Sports that Toto Wolff, his team principal and manager, had referred to him as a “fantastic ally,” meaning a fantastic second driver, which he took badly. “The term ally hurts,” he said. Before adding, “I don’t see anything positive in this race for me.”
