Valtteri Bottas started the race on pole position at Imola Grand Prix.  However, the Finn failed to convert his pole position into a win. During the race, he ran over some debris that had an impact on his car’s aerodynamics.

It was reported that Valtteri Bottas later criticized the race director for not reporting the debris on the track. Valtteri Bottas finished P2 behind his teammate Lewis Hamilton at Imola.

Valtteri explained that he was surprised that there was no report about debris on the track.

He said, “It would be interesting to understand why no warning was given of the presence of that big piece of carbon in the middle of the track. If he had flown in other cars it could have created a dangerous situation. It was certainly not helpful in my race .”

Bottas admitted that his team warned him about the debris. However, they were unable to indicate where it exactly was. The Finn believes that a yellow flag should have been out to clear the wreckage.

The debris’ impact on Valtteri Bottas’ car

During the first lap, Sebastian Vettel came in contact with Hass’ Kevin Magnussen. Due to the collision, the German lost the right endplate of his front wing. During the race, Bottas did not have the time to avoid the debris once he noticed it.

At the spur of the moment, he decided to pass over the debris and take the minor damage than to risk a puncture.

He explained, “I only had the opportunity to think about how I could hit him and I decided to go straight to the piece rather than risk passing over it with the tires.”

It was reported that Finn’s dull performance at Imola was due to the debris stuck under his car. According to the team’s estimate, the debris causes a loss of around 8 tenths of a second per lap.

As a result, Valtteri Bottas was overtaken by Max Verstappen. It seemed like Max would finish at P2 and overtake Valtteri Bottas in the drivers championship. Fortunately for Bottas, Max suffered a surprising tire blowout forcing him to retire the car.

The Finn is currently standing at P2 with 197 points. Following Max’s retirement, the gap between him and Bottas has increased to 35. The Finnish driver would look forward to finishing the remaining races at the podium and securing that P2 position on the drivers’ standing.

Read More – Mercedes Explain the “Damage” on Valtteri Bottas’ Car During the Portguese Grand Prix