F1 drivers fume at Bottas for causing ‘bowling game’ Turn 1 carnage

After being swallowed up by a number of drivers having made an awful getaway, Bottas got his braking point all wrong into Turn 1 and slid into the rear of McLaren’s Lando Norris.

Norris ran into Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, with Bottas slamming into the side of Sergio Perez, eliminating the Mexican from the race on the spot. Although he was able to recover to the pits, Norris was forced to retire under the subsequent red flag.

Verstappen was able to continue but extensive damage to his car meant he could only salvage a point in 10th.

Bottas has received a five-place grid penalty for the Belgian Grand Prix later this month for causing the Turn 1 carnage, while Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll has been hit with the same punishment for taking out Charles Leclerc.

Here’s how some of the drivers involved responded to the chaotic start in Hungary…

Charles Leclerc - ‘Nice bowling game’

“I don’t know what to say, I mean, in most of incidents I can understand whenever there are different views about incidents.

“But I think today it’s very very clear and I was in my corner and just lance drove into me in the middle of the corner coming out from nowhere, so it’s hugely frustrating because I knew it was an opportunity today.

“I went quite easy at the beginning to just try and stay in my position, and make our race later on, and then to finish like this is just shit.”

Nice bowling game. So frustrating.

— Charles Leclerc (@Charles_Leclerc) August 1, 2021

“Bottas lost the car. In the beginning, I thought it was Lando but yeah it’s clear that Bottas just made a big mistake and took everyone out of the race.

“It’s a big shame. It’s a massive blow for us as a team but we also lost the engine very likely, so not ideal really.”

Max Verstappen - ‘Again taken out by a Mercedes’

“Again taken out by a Mercedes… that’s not what you want and from there onwards I was missing my whole side of the car – the whole bargeboard area. And the floor was damaged as well.

“It was almost impossible to drive to be honest. I still tried my very best and I still scored one point so…it’s at least something but of course, it’s not what we want.”

Lando Norris - ‘A stupid crash’

“Yeah, not much to say. Just annoyed I guess. Lap 1, I don’t know why that has to happen, why risk doing those kind of stupid things. But nothing I can do though. Not a lot to stay.

Asked if he felt Bottas deserved a penalty, Norris replied: “Of course, if I get a penalty for not even doing anything wrong in other tracks, then he should deserve a much bigger penalty than what I got. So we’ll see.

“I hope they have some common sense and they do what they should do, but it’s not up to me at the end of the day.”

Valtteri Bottas - ‘A mess’

“I had a poor start, wheelspin off the line, and lost places. And then braking into first corner I was right in the gearbox of Lando and I just locked the wheels.

“So probably being that close didn’t calculate quite right the braking point, locked two wheels, hit him, and then it was a mess.”