Mercedes alters Bottas dashboard to avoid F1 race start distraction
Valtteri Bottas says he and Mercedes have made changes to his dashboard for the British Grand Prix to avoid a repeat of him getting distracted by his rev counter lights
The Finn made a poor getaway at the last race in Hungary after saying he was thrown by a light coming on in his cockpit. That caused him to nudge forward in his grid spot and go into anti-stall before he was able to get going.
Asked by Autosport about what the light was that distracted him, Bottas said it was simply a rev light that flashed on when he wasn't expecting it.
"We've done some very good analysis obviously from the start," said the Finn. "I always do that, but now even more regarding that.
"It was simply the rev lights on the dash. So yeah, we've made changes so it doesn't happen again and I don't get that kind of distraction, otherwise that could lead to a mistake like that. So changes has been made not for that to happen again."
The flashing light was not the only issue that Bottas has faced at the start of the season, as he also revealed that other factors - like running with too much fuel in Hungary qualifying or the wrong ride height in Austria - have also worked against him.
"The fuelling error we found as part of [the] analysis from last week," he said, having qualified just 0.107 seconds behind team-mate Lewis Hamilton at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
"There was an issue with the fuelling system, something with a pipe or the vent the fuel goes in, so it was around two kilos or a bit more over-fuelled in qualifying.
"I think they said it was like eight hundredths per lap, so [I had] that the throughout the qualifying after Q1.
"But yeah, I'm sure the team has reacted to that and learned again from that. So hopefully it won't happen again. It's not ideal when it's somebody speaking about milliseconds in qualifying."
Speaking about the Austria problem, Bottas said: "On the right height thing, I can't remember - it was maybe the second race in Austria. We're speaking only about a few millimetres, just a human error. That's it.
"So again, I don't think it really made a massive difference, maybe more so in the wet than in the race, but I don't think it was a bad thing actually."
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
F1 teams and Pirelli had no warning of “painted” Shanghai track surface
FIA still chasing answers over bizarre Shanghai F1 grass fires
Why F1 2026 worst case fears could be key to new rules success
Bottas: Permanent fix for Sauber F1 pitstop woes "by Imola"
Bottas: Sauber's F1 pitstop issues may not be fixed until after China
The high-stakes design theory that Sauber hopes is key to 2024 F1 progress
Hamilton expects to lose positions if F1 China sprint is dry
2024 F1 Chinese GP sprint qualifying results: Norris takes pole
The F1 breakthroughs Mercedes made in Japan - and what's next
MotoGP schedule: When is the next MotoGP race and where will it be held?
Honda MotoGP boss "confused" by "good improvements" not working
Friday favourite: Why Herbert prefers a car he had to wrestle above his F1 winners
New Time Attack competition for 1990s F1 cars launched by AGS successor
The short-term pain that hides a very real Williams improvement
How a Shanghai to Sheffield journey paved the way for China’s F1 hero
Why F1 2026 worst case fears could be key to new rules success
How the F1 driver market situation sits for each team with 2025 openings
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments