Mercedes Valtteri Bottas almost picked up a time penalty for jumping the lights at the Hungarian Grand Prix. However, instead of going into the lead the Finn actually lost a number of places and slipped down to P6.

Nevertheless, Bottas managed to come back well and finished the race in P3.

A P2 finish would have been a major possibility, if only there were an extra lap in hand. After all, the Finn only finished 7 tenths of a second behind Max Verstappen. Bottas explained the reason behind his jumped start towards the end of the race.

He also dubbed his race to be a ‘bad’ one.

Valtteri Bottas talks us through the start of his race at the Hungaroring

According to Motorsport.com the Finn said, “It was a pretty bad race for me, to be honest. Starting second, obviously, you aim to win the race. [I] lost at the start.

“I reacted to a light on my dash that went off. I don’t know what it was but something changed on the dash. I reacted to that instead of the start lights, so I got anti-stall, so then I had to do the start again.

Towards the end of the race, Bottas took a risk and pitted for a new set of hard tyres, in a bid to finish second. Despite the move not quite paying off, Bottas thought it was the right decision.

He said, “I think it was worth the gamble, yes, I think it really gave me that difference in the tire life. It didn’t quite pay off today (though). I look forward to Silverstone, but plenty again to learn from this weekend.”

Bottas’ teammate Lewis Hamilton emerged as a comfortable winner of the Hungarian Grand Prix. The win saw Hamilton go to the top of the driver standings with 63 points, 5 points ahead of Bottas in second place.

It also sets Mercedes up well, for yet another Constructors’ title as the team went 66 points clear of Red Bull in second place.