Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas blamed an inexperienced Franco Colapinto for holding up the race-start procedure at last weekend’s Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix.
Colapinto, competing in F1 for the first time at Monza, qualified in 18th place, ahead of the two Saubers at the back of the grid.
As the rest of the field came through to line up at the end of the formation lap, Colapinto left a larger-than-usual gap between himself and the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll up ahead, which drew criticism from Bottas behind.
Speaking to his race engineer over team radio, the Finn said: “The gap between the car in front and the car in front was very big, according to the rules.”
Asked to clarify his comments post-race, Bottas told media including Motorsport Week, “Yeah, it was just I don’t know why the gap was so big.
“Obviously it’s his first time, but still I’m sure he will learn from it.
“I just reported it because we might gain a place if he gets a penalty. That’s the name of the game.”
Regarding the race start procedure, article 44.8 of the rules states “During the formation lap practice starts are forbidden and the formation must be kept as tight as possible,” leaving room for interpretation.
With Sauber having comfortably the slowest car on the grid, stealing an advantage through other’s misfortune is the only realistic chance of the team making progress.
That turned out to be the case last Sunday at Monza, with Yuki Tsunoda’s DNF, a 10-second time penalty for Nico Hulkenberg plus a front wing change and a three-stopping Lance Stroll suffering poor tyre wear.
Those factors contributed to a 16th-place finish for Bottas in the Italian GP, who remarked “It’s better than going backwards.
” [We] started with the hard and go along, of course hoping towards the end of the stint that there would be some help with safety car or whatever action, but there wasn’t, but still I think it was the right thing to do to commit to the one stop.
“Just do our own race, focus on the tyre management and yeah, it was quite a straightforward race and actually not that eventful for me.”
Colapinto meanwhile, acknowledged he has a lot to learn from his opening race, saying, “The call [to debut] was very, very late, and I couldn’t do a good prep.
“But, in the next few races, I think I’m going to be able to nail it on that, and I’m going to arrive a bit more prepared overall with the car, with the settings, procedures and everything.”
