Mercedes suspects lack of grip behind Bottas' poor start

Mercedes says that the lack of grip may have been the reason behind Valtteri Bottas' poor start at the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday.

Bottas started the race from pole position but found himself behind teammate Lewis Hamilton after Turn 1.

The Finn was unable to get close to the Briton and challenge for the lead and settled for second place while Hamilton picked up his third win of the season.

Immediately after the race, Bottas claimed that he was having issues with his clutch prior to the start, but Mercedes doesn't believe that a car fault was behind the poor start.

Mercedes sporting director Ron Meadows said: "We believe there was a lack of grip on the pole position side. If you looked at the starts of the support races, more often than not the second, or even third or fourth placed guy would have a better start than the pole sitter.”

Speaking about the lack of grip, trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin added: "That is one of the elements, and then also you get wheelspin and obviously the wheels are slipping and there’s a bit of interaction.

"We’re going to get all the bits back this week and have a good look at them to analyse them but at the moment, we think it was just an issue with the grip and not one with the car.”

Bottas lost the lead in the championship after the race, while Mercedes bagged its fifth consecutive one-two finish to streak further clear of rivals Ferrari.