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Bottas had no idea he hit debris

16:33, 29 Apr 2018

byAdam Newton

Valtteri Bottas had no idea he had hit debris when his puncture occurred with just three laps remaining in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

It was a gut-wrenching way to finish the weekend for Bottas, who managed his supersoft tyres so well in the first stint and took advantage of the safety car to get in front of Sebastian Vettel.

It looked to be all sewn up for the Finn to claim his fourth Grand Prix win, until disaster struck.

On the pit straight, Bottas ran straight over a sharp piece of debris left by the Red Bull collision, puncturing his rear right tyre and forcing him into retirement.

It allowed team mate Lewis Hamilton to take the lead and the victory, his first of the season.

“It’s difficult to say anything, everyone saw what happened,” he said. “It’s just unfortunate, unlucky.

“I’ll maybe have ten pints of beer and be fine. I’ll get through it, it’s part of racing but at the moment it’s very painful.

“Street circuits are difficult when there are a lot of crashes. It is always going to be an issue and this time it is just unlucky.

“I had no idea I had run over anything, I didn’t see or hear anything.”