Vettel maintains Bottas jump started in Austria; Will other drivers try and copy Finn at Silverstone?
Monday 21 August 2017 11:23, UK
Sebastian Vettel has continued to question Valtteri Bottas' fast start at the Austrian GP and says there should be a review of the rule on jump starts.
The championship leader remains adamant Bottas jumped the start, despite the FIA's data saying the Finn's reaction time was 0.201s.
Bottas' rapid getaway caused both Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo, who started P2 and P3 respectively, to claim over team radio they believed he had jumped the start.
The Mercedes driver has admitted he took a risk by gambling when the lights would go out and, ahead of Sunday's British GP, Vettel said the rule needs to be clarified.
"You can't anticipate the start. The rule is clear but I think the rule probably needs to be looked into.
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"Obviously there is no point for any of us to risk what he did, because if you let him do it again, he won't do it again because you can't anticipate because it's in somebody else's hands.
"As I felt off the line, and as it turned out to be the case, he jumped the start, he was too early. He got away with it because of the way we set-up the rule.
"I felt he jumped the start and he did jump the start. We looked into it as well and he slightly moved before the lights went off. Even if you move as the lights go off, the human body has a greater reaction time than 0.0 seconds.
"Looking forward, we probably need to have a look at how we police it. On the other hand, I understand that for the next 10 years you probably won't have a problem because you can't anticipate the start."
How are jump starts measured?
Will other drivers try to copy Bottas at Silverstone?
So will Bottas, or any of the other drivers, attempt to repeat the technique come 1pm?
Sergio Perez: "It's such a tiny line that if you try to be too clever the penalty is a lot more than just being too quick with the lights. It's much more important the launch that you get rather than just reaction.
"For me I'm not going to change my approach. I'll keep doing what I've done all my career.
"I hope other drivers try and get it wrong and jump start."
Esteban Ocon: "He was lucky and it came good. I have good reaction times and have always been gaining positions at the start. It's too risky to do this - imagine you lift off the clutch and it's still red."
Romain Grosjean: "I normally don't gamble. I think about it but I just normally react to the lights."
Jolyon Palmer: "I think if you gamble nine times out of ten you will get it wrong, to be honest. I think everyone's normally waiting for the lights to go out."
Bottas: "I watched the Formula 2 start and the lights were really quick so I think they are going to make more variation between the lights now than before. I don't want to gamble anything."
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