Williams says timing of Bottas release was right

Williams claims it released Valtteri Bottas “at the right point” just before he clipped the back of the incoming Jenson Button in the pit lane during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The McLaren-Honda driver was about to go past the Williams box to make his first stop when the Finn was given the go-ahead to leave his spot and ended up wiping off half of his front wing in the ensuing collision.

The stewards quickly investigated the incident and decided to hand Bottas a five-second penalty for unsafe release, which further compromised his chances to retain fourth in the Drivers’ championship.

• Bottas pit lane incident cost Button ‘a lot of time’

Williams head of engineering performance Rob Smedley insists the mechanics followed the right procedures.

“We'll have to analyse it and understand exactly what happened,” he said. “We released [Bottas] at the right point but unfortunately he saw the McLaren too late. When he saw Jenson, he braked, but Jenson was in the part of the road that he was going to.

“We have a signal to the drivers that tells them traffic is approaching and they need to stay on the right-hand side or further towards the slow lane. He did that, but they just had a coming together because he saw Jenson too late.”

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