Valtteri Bottas faces a "tough summer" after Hungarian "bowling" - Damon Hill

Valtteri Bottas after his crash in the Hungarian GP — Photo: © LAT Images

Hungarian Grand Prix

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Bottas faces a "tough summer" after Hungarian "bowling" - Hill

Bottas' Hungarian Grand Prix exit was the first lap one retirement of his F1 career

Sam Hall

Wednesday 4 August 2021 14:01

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Damon Hill has suggested Valtteri Bottas is in for a "tough summer" with his Hungarian Grand Prix blunder 'hanging over' into the shutdown.

Bottas lost positions after a poor start before a misjudgement under braking sent the Finn into the back of Lando Norris' McLaren and triggered a multiple car collision.

The Finn will serve a five-place grid penalty at the Belgian Grand Prix, but with the summer shutdown between now and the end of August event, he faces a long summer.

“It is awful," said 1996 champion Hill on the F1 Nation podcast.

"When you make a complete pig's ear of something like that, as a racing driver, you are desperate for the next race so you can put it behind you.

"You’ve just got to get onto recovery mode and get a good result behind you.

“But of course, you’ve got this thing now hanging over you. He’s got the whole summer break to have this thing in the back of his mind and of course, decisions are going to be made about his future we’re told.

“It could be a tough summer for Valtteri and you do feel for him for that. I’ve been there. It’s not nice.”

Bottas error like "10 pin bowling"

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Hill dismissed suggestions the Bottas' error was caused by a lack of downforce after being sandwiched by Norris and Max Verstappen on the run to turn one.

After Lance Stroll triggered a separate incident with Charles Leclerc and Daniel Ricciardo, Hill said: "Skittles is a word that comes to mind. It was 10 pin bowling the first corner.

“It’s a wet race. They’re going diving down into the first corner on the first lap. You’ve got to give yourself a little bit of space and I think Valtteri just got caught out when Lando started to brake.

“Either his brakes weren’t hot and he went for the brake pedal and they didn’t work initially because that can happen too, so you hit it and it doesn’t initially bite.

"You get a little bit of skid on the first application of the brakes and then they start to warm up.

“But by then, you’ve gone a car-length too deep and for whatever reason, he’s misjudged and gone into the back [of Norris].”