Bottas start cleared as ‘perfect’ by FIA

SPIELBERG, Austria: The victorious Valt teri Bot tas’ ‘ perfect ’ start in Sunday’s Aust rian Grand P rix was the r esu l t o f “for tui tous judgement”, the sport’s ruling body, the International Motoring Federation ( FIA), said.

Finn Bottas roared away from pole position with immaculate timing as the lights went out at the start of the race - a getaway so perfect that second- placed Sebastian Vettel believed he had made a ‘ jump start’.

The frustrated German, who was second on the grid for Ferrari, said he could not believe the data and felt convinced Bottas had jumped the lights - and after the race described him as ‘ unhuman’.

But a spokesperson for the FIA explained that though Bottas had been lucky and it may have appeared possible that he made a jump start, he had been cleared of any possible wrongdoing.

“The jump start system judges whether a car has moved a preset (very small) distance between the point at which the last red light comes on and the point at which the lights go out,” said the FIA spokesperson.

“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.

“Thi s sy s tem, which is dependent on the official timing provided by Formula One, 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 exceptional ly accurate and for tuitous judgement cal l , 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.”

Vet tel, who had protested immediately during the race, said afterwards that he “didn’t believe” the quoted reaction time of Bottas. — AFP