Bottas lucky with penalty: 'It may have been a stronger otherwise'

Valtteri Bottas and Lance Stroll played starring roles at the Hungarian Grand Prix by taking out several cars at the start. The rain was taken into account, otherwise, the grid penalty of five places would probably have been higher.

Charles Leclerc, Sergio Pérez, Lando Norris and Max Verstappen, among others, suffered serious damage to their cars during the race in Hungary. While most drivers had to retire, the Dutchman drove the rest of the race with a damaged car. After the GP, Stroll and Bottas were given a grid penalty of five places.

However, the race committee took the circumstances into account when determining the penalty, which meant the penalty for the pair was less than in other similar moments in the past. "As we have said before, it is not the outcome, it is the incident itself that determines the level of penalty," stated FIA Race Director Michael Masi in conversation with Motorsportweek.com.