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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.
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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."
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Replies (3)
Login to replyf1ski
Posts: 726
controlled by the pit wall
abhidbgt
Posts: 283
:D
Biggs7
Posts: 38
Last time Bottas lost from pole in Bahrain or China he blamed the paint markings, today its the clutch.