Bottas had 'strange behaviour' with clutch at race start

  • Published on 12 May 2019 16:57
  • comments 3
  • By: Fergal Walsh

Valtteri Bottas says he is keen to understand some "strange behaviour" he experienced with the clutch at the start of the Spanish Grand Prix.

Bottas started the race from pole position but was pipped off the line by teammate Lewis Hamilton, and found himself under pressure from Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel.

Although he managed to hold off the threat of Vettel, the Finn conceded the race to Hamilton. Speaking immediately after the race, Bottas says that the chance of a victory was lost at the start.

"It was pretty tight, but I lost it at the start," he said. "There was some strange behaviour with the clutch. It was biting and releasing, biting and releasing which I never felt before so I lost it there."

Bottas crossed the line in second place, four seconds down on Hamilton, who picked up his third win of the season.

The result marked Mercedes' fifth consecutive one-two finish, a feat that hasn't been achieved before in Formula 1. Bottas hailed his Mercedes team for the effort it has put in and the results it is able to take.

"As a team, it's incredible. A fifth one-two in a row is really good, I got some good points. Every single point is going to count this year, so that's good for sure but I'm just keen to find out why the start was so bad and why the issue happened."

 

Replies (3)

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  • f1ski

    Posts: 726

    controlled by the pit wall

    • + 0
    • May 13 2019 - 04:53
  • Biggs7

    Posts: 38

    Last time Bottas lost from pole in Bahrain or China he blamed the paint markings, today its the clutch.

    • + 0
    • May 13 2019 - 08:53

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