Mercedes confirm crash caused Bottas to lose 5% downforce

Mercedes have released data which confirms Valtteri Bottas lost 5% downforce after his crash with Sebastian Vettel at the start of the Grand Prix. Whilst Vettel recovered to get into 5th place, Bottas could only muster 7th. 

At the time of the incident, it appeared Bottas received just a puncture. But as the Finn drove around the Paul Ricard circuit, he added damage to his floor. 

“The simple answer is about five percent [downforce], that wasn’t from the contact with Vettel, it was actually when the tyre fails, when it punctures, it starts to fall apart and it’s the tyre hitting the floor that does the damage on the way back,” Mercedes trackside engineering Andrew Shovlin reported in the Mercedes’ post-race debrief video.

“So, you are trying to drive it slow enough that you don’t damage the floor too much but equally quick enough that you can get back on the train when the Safety Car restarts.”

At one point, the Mercedes garage remained optimistic that Bottas would get back into the top six, but a late virtual safety car hampered his chances. Bottas has slipped to fourth in the world championship after Daniel Ricciardo’s fourth-place finish.