- Brazilian Grand Prix - Williams
Bottas unaware he wasn't racing Hamilton
Valtteri Bottas admitted he thought he was racing Lewis Hamilton when the pair collided in the Brazilian Grand Prix.
With Hamilton defending the inside line in to Turn 4, Bottas attempted to find a way past on the outside but the two touched wheels and Bottas span off in to retirement. However, Hamilton was a lap ahead of the Williams when the incident occurred and Bottas said he was not aware of the positions but said he'd have still tried the same move.
"In the end it was quite an unlucky situation," Bottas said. "It was not nice to finish the season by DNF but I think in the end I could not have done anything differently. First of all I didn't know that I was one lap behind him - I thought we were racing - but even though I was one lap behind I still would have tried to overtake.
"In this track in the middle sector if you're behind someone it's very easy to start the graining with the tyres, you start to slide more. With the top speed we had on the main straight it was quite difficult to overtake there, so it was a completely planned move. I used up all my KERS and I tried to get him from the outside and then we just hit. It was not a big impact but just the right angle to destroy the rear tyre and that was it."
Asked if he was pleased to see Hamilton was penalised for his part in the incident, Bottas replied: "It doesn't change my race for me, it was still finished. That is really up to the stewards but to me it doesn't make a difference."
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
