Vettel disputes Bottas start legality

Sebastian Vettel insists Valtteri Bottas jumped the start at the Austrian Grand Prix despite stewards stating the Finn's reaction time was legal.

Bottas got an excellent start and appeared to get away slightly before the rest of the field, with television images showing the polesitter to react marginally before the lights went out. The stewards noted the incident during the race but then said there would be no further action after the Bottas' reaction time was registered at 0.201s.

Vettel complained Bottas had jumped the start during the race, and when asked about his own start the championship leader replied: "I think it was OK but I was a bit distracted as from my point of view he jumped the start.

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"I was sure that he did. It looked like it from inside the car but it is not for me to judge at the end of the day. It was probably a bit late because it is quite tricky to keep standing still but I think it was OK. I did lose a bit later on but overall it was a good start.

Informed of the FIA reaction time of 0.201s, Vettel responded: "I don't believe that."

Vettel was then pushed on why he didn't believe the reaction time given by the FIA, and explained his skepticism is based on the reactions of the rest of the field.

"First of all I want to clarify by saying I don't want to take anything away from Valtteri – he drove an excellent race and at the end with a difficult car he didn't do a mistake, so he performed well.

"I don't believe it because I don't believe it... I think the reaction times are around 0.2s for everyone and I don't think that everyone is that much slower, so that is why I don't think Valtteri is that much quicker than us. I was a strong believer at the time that he jumped the start but I am guessing there is reason to believe he didn't, but I can't imagine his reaction time was 0.2s, that would be normal. He said earlier he wasn't human, he is Finnish!"

Following the incident, the FIA clarified how jump starts are measured and admitted Bottas moved prior to the lights going out but within a permitted window.

"The jump start system judges whether a car has moved a pre-set (very small) distance between the point at which the last red light comes on and the point at which the lights go out," an FIA spokesman said. "We have found that need to allow for some very small movement, as drivers sometimes need to make clutch adjustments in preparation for the start.

"This system, which is dependent on the official timing provided by Formula 1, has been in operation for some 20 years and has proved extremely reliable in that time.

"In today's instance, Valtteri Bottas did not exceed this (very small) limit before the start was given. Simply put: he made an exceptionally accurate and fortuitous judgment call, anticipating the moment the lights went out with great precision. Any movement prior to the moment the lights went out was within the tolerances allowed."