Bottas escapes with reprimand for Grosjean crash

Valtteri Bottas has escaped with a reprimand following his collision with Romain Grosjean in second practice for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

During the high-fuel runs during FP2, Bottas tried to overtake down the inside into Turn 11 from a long way back but Grosjean turned in, with the pair colliding at the apex. Both cars were damaged in the incident, with Grosjean not able to continue running despite making it back to the pits under a red flag.

https://twitter.com/F1/status/1200427739565772800

The stewards opted to investigate the collision after the session and handed Bottas his first driving reprimand of the season, with the Finn already due to start the race from the back of the grid due to power unit penalties.

“(Bottas) accepted responsibility for the collision and acknowledged that it was a failed attempt at an overtake which resulted in the collision,” the stewards’ decision read.

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Bottas ended both sessions quickest on Friday and says the car felt good before the collision, putting the contact down to Grosjean not seeing him trying to overtake.

“The end of FP2 was a bit compromised with a minor crash I had with Grosjean -- I think he didn’t really see me coming up the inside,” Bottas said. “My apologies but there was nowhere for me to disappear. I went for the overtake and that was it.

“Honestly, I thought he would see me coming. He wasn’t covering the line so I thought he was aware I was there but maybe he didn’t look in the mirror before turning in. I expected him to see me and I saw the gap decreasing and there was no escape.”