Valtteri Bottas finished last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix in 16th but had hoped to steal a position from Franco Colapinto.
The Williams rookie ended the 53-lap encounter 13th on the road, improving to 12th following a post-race time penalty for Daniel Ricciardo.
The Argentinian had started 18th, ahead of only Bottas and his Sauber team-mate Zhou Guanyu.
On the formation lap, he was caught well behind the pack which led to pole sitter Lando Norris sitting on the grid for a lengthy period before all 20 cars had formed up.
That prompted Bottas to report the young Williams driver in the hope he’d be penalised for driving too slowly.
“The gap between the car in front and the car in front was very big, according to the rules,” he reported to his engineer at the time.
Speaking post-race, the adopted Aussie explained his rationale behind complaining about Colapinto.
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“I don’t know why the gap was so big,” he said.
“Obviously it’s his first time, but still I’m sure he will learn from it.
“I just reported it because we might gain a place if he gets a penalty. That’s the name of the game.”
The delay at the race was spotted by Sky Sports’ commentator Martin Brundle.
“This is taking too long. They really need to talk in the drivers’ briefing about this, there is too long for the back row to line up,” he said.
“This is taking too long. They really need to talk in the drivers’ briefing about this, there is too long for the back row to line up.”
No penalty was forthcoming for the 21-year-old, indeed it was not even investigated, as rules surrounding the formation lap are comparatively relaxed.
There is no mandatory distance a driver must follow the car ahead beyond the packing being “kept as tight as possible.”
Beyond that, rules only cover overtaking or when a car is “delayed and cars behind cannot avoid passing it without unduly delaying the remainder of the field.”
Following his debut race, Colapinto was left pleased, noting he’d only had an eight-lap stint in an F1 car heading into the race.
“I am happy, of course, with the result,” he said.
“But mostly happy with pace. [It] was a question mark, I have never done more than eight laps in a tow before this and suddenly I do 53.
“A lot of new things, but very happy, very positive weekend overall.”
Colapinto will remain in the Williams drive for the balance of the season before handing it over to Carlos Sainz for 2025.
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