Williams: An Unusual Pit Stop Error That Proves Costly for Bottas
During a pit stop, Williams got their wires crossed by fitting two different types of tires on Valtteri Bottas: the mistake resulted in a penalty for the Finn, who ultimately finished 9th. Felipe Massa, on the other hand, finished 6th.

It’s an unusual image that certainly must not have pleased Franck and Claire Williams: the team mechanics confused speed with haste during a pit stop, fitting one medium tire and three soft tires on Valtteri Bottas! The regulations strictly forbid this, resulting in the Finnish driver receiving a Drive-Through penalty, which relegated him to 9th place in the final standings.
Valtteri Bottas started from third place on the grid and leaves Belgium with only two extra points: « *We didn’t get the result we were looking for today. The pit stop and race pace are two areas we need to work on. We thought we would be stronger during the race, but the soft tires in the first stint didn’t work as well as expected, which put us in a difficult position.* »
Rob Smedley, Performance Director at Williams, apologized to his driver: « I am clearly very disappointed with what happened to Valtteri. The team made a mistake, and on its behalf, I am very sorry as it cost Valtteri what could have been a podium finish. There will be an investigation into the processes in place today to fully understand what happened, and to establish a procedure to ensure that such a thing does not happen again. »
The Grove engineer confirms that the single-seaters in the middle of the pack had closely matched performances: « There were five teams with very similar race paces. However, due to these small gaps, the result was primarily dictated by the first stint where we struggled with the soft tires. »
Felipe Massa finished the race in front of his teammate, in sixth place. He is not satisfied with it: « It was a frustrating day for me. I struggled at the start and with the soft tires, during the first stint, it didn’t work as well as hoped. So, I lost a few positions. At that point, we were fighting from the back, but the medium tires worked well. I couldn’t overtake Perez’s Force India at the end because their straight-line speed was high. It was a tough day, but finishing sixth is the most positive aspect we will take away from the weekend. »
In the constructors’ standings, Williams nevertheless limits the damage against Red Bull by conceding only two points. Felipe Massa even joins Kimi Räikkönen in 4th place in the drivers’ championship.