Photo: Williams
Valtteri Bottas received the signal to leave their position in the box of Williams just when Jenson Button came to make her stop. The finn hit the back of the McLaren of the English language and shattered the front wing, forcing him to return to the pits to replace the nose of his car. Shortly after, the commissioners sanctioned with a five-second penalty that he had to fulfill in his next stop. So, Bottas there was nothing that could be done to defend the fourth position in the World before Kimi Räikkönen, something that, of all forms, given the performance of the Williams in the Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi, it would have been little less than impossible.
With all the head of engineering at Williams Rob Smedley, has ensured that the team carried out the procedure completely correct and that the crash was due to that Bottas saw the Button too late to be able to react. “we let Him go at the right time but, unfortunately, Valtteri saw the McLaren’s too late. Then, slowed down, but Jenson was already in the area of the track towards which he was heading. We have a signal to the pilots that tells them that they are approaching traffic and you must stay on the right side, closer to the slow lane: that’s what he did, but the contact occurred because he saw Jenson’s too late”.
By cons, Jenson Button judged as correct the decision of the commissioners. “I Could see that they were going to let out, something that assumes that you can’t do because I was coming; it is obvious that they did it too soon. I Tried to take my out of the way, but it was not my fault because it hit the back of my car, something that, clearly, is never positive”.
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