Bottas unscathed after 130mph Austria crash

Valtteri Bottas was taken to the medical centre after crashing out of second practice for the Austrian Grand Prix yesterday.

Bottas lost control of his Mercedes at 130mph through the left-handed sixth corner before slamming into the barriers.

The Finnish driver sustained serious damage to the front of his Mercedes in the accident.

Bottas emerged from his cockpit before heading to the on-track hospital after he triggered an impact of more than 25G. He was later given the all-clear by doctors.

Bottas’s incident was the second flashpoint on a hectic day of practice at the Red Bull Ring after Max Verstappen also crashed out.

There was drama for Sebastian Vettel, too, who produced an almost carbon-copy of Verstappen’s mistake, but avoided any damage, the German coming to a halt before the barriers.

He managed to limp back to the pits in his Ferrari.

It was Vettel’s team-mate Charles Leclerc who set the pace, the Monegasque finishing a third of a second faster than anybody else.

Bottas’ time before his accident was good enough for second, with the Red Bull of Pierre Gasly third in the order.

Lewis Hamilton, who heads into tomorrow’s race with a commanding 36-point championship lead over Bottas, topped the time charts in the opening running, but could finish only fourth later in the day.

The world champion, bidding for his fifth successive victory after dominating in France last weekend, finished 0.443 sec down on Leclerc.

Vettel, whose running was compromised by his spin, ended the day in eighth. British teenager Lando Norris finished 10th in his McLaren, behind team-mate Carlois Sainz.