SPIELBERG, Austria - Valtteri Bottas believes his three-place grid penalty for spinning in the pit lane during practice for the Austrian Grand Prix was too harsh and the decision was made due to dubious complaints from rival teams.
Bottas finished second in qualifying on Saturday, but will drop to fifth as a result of his penalty on the grid for Sunday's race.
A Mercedes driver was penalized for dangerous driving when he lost control of his car as he crossed the painted line that divides the pit box and pit lane, causing his Mercedes to park in the flow of traffic. It becomes
He managed to avoid hitting the pit wall, but was pushed back in the right direction by nearby mechanics from rival team McLaren.
"In my personal view, it's pretty harsh," Bottas said when asked his opinion on the penalty after qualifying. "I never thought there would be a fine [for that type of incident] after that."
Soon after the incident, McLaren's team manager, Paul James, raised his concerns about the spin in a radio message to FIA Race Director Michael Massi.
"Michael, this is absolutely ridiculous," said James. "Those guys could have taken out [mechanics] or one of the pit wall."
Bottas felt the messages were targeted in an attempt to encourage stewards to investigate the incident and issue fines.
"Of course other teams, when they see the opportunity they complain that it's dangerous, etc., so that we can be punished," he said.
"It just so happens, everyone is always trying to trap you in this game. Yes, of course it can be a dangerous situation if there are a lot of people in the pitlane..."
One of the factors contributing to the spin was Bottas trying to drop his pit box into second gear, which he did intentionally to try to reduce the wheelspin.
"It definitely caught me, I never thought would happen in a pit alley," he said. "We decided to try something different at launch and start in second gear, because sometimes with higher gears and lower revs you can [manage it] better, because the wheelspin isn't so aggressive in the starting part .
"But then, once I got the wheelpin it really caught me, maybe the lines on the pit lane were still a little damp from the drizzle and I couldn't hold it.
"Apparently quite a different behavior in second gear than in first gear. So, it happened."