Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas has received a reprimand, his first of the season, after being deemed culpable for an incident with Stoffel Vandoorne during practice in Belgium.
Vandoorne, on a hot lap, was approaching Bottas, who had just come out of the pits, on the run through Eau Rouge/Raidillon.
Vandoorne jinked left to pass Bottas through Kemmel but the Mercedes driver drifted to the left, forcing his McLaren counterpart onto the grass.
Vandoorne was pitched into a high-speed spin and made only minimal contact with the barriers once he had sufficiently slowed.
Stewards confirmed that Bottas “conceded the incident was his fault and that he had not seen Vandoorne approaching, despite checking his mirrors and having heard a warning message from his team.”
“Bottas believed that Vandoorne was further behind than it actually was.
“The stewards determined the incident was not intentional or reckless and for this reason imposed the penalty referred to above.”
Bottas is already set to start from the back of the grid on account of his penalty for exceeding his allocation of power unit components.
