Valtteri Bottas wants to ‘have a word’ with 22-year-old F1 rival on Japanese GP ‘mistake’

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Alfa Romeo driver Valtteri Bottas plans to speak with Formula 1 rival Logan Sargeant as contact with the Williams rookie ended both of their Japanese Grand Prix last Sunday.

The pair collided at the hairpin on Lap 5 after Sargeant looked up his front-left tyre, forcing him to drift wide. But as the American looked up, Bottas sensed his opportunity to overtake the Williams around the outside. Yet that space vanished and Sargeant spun the Alfa Romeo.

Sargeant limped back to the pits after sustaining front wing damage from the contact. While Bottas drifted through the gravel trap to re-join the race. But Alfa Romeo, ultimately, retired the 34-year-old on Lap 9 as a result of the progressive damage from his two early incidents.

Bottas and Sargeant were forced to retire after their Japanese GP crash

Bottas’ Japanese GP got off to an awful start as he made contact with Alpine driver Esteban Ocon at the start. A chain reaction at Turn 1 saw Ocon, Bottas, Zhou Guanyu and Alex Albon require repairs. Bottas was sandwiched in an incident that he apportions the blame to Ocon.

Williams would also retire Sargeant on Lap 22 as a result of his progressive damage from his contact with Bottas. The team called the Fort Lauderdale, Florida-born talent back to the pit lane only a lap after serving a five-second time penalty for the incident with the Alfa Romeo.

Sargeant will hope to forget his struggles at Suzuka soon

The Japanese GP weekend proved to be one that Sargeant will hope to forget soon after his crash in qualifying. Williams watched on as the 22-year-old wrecked his car in a high-speed off while exiting the final corner. He had been slightly ‘too aggressive’ getting on the power.

Sargeant drifted wide and onto the grass which spat his car into the barrier. Damage at both ends of his car forced Williams to build a spare chassis under Parc Ferme conditions. It drew a pit lane start plus a 10-second time penalty that Sargeant served during his stop on Lap 1.

But while Sargeant will want to forget his struggles at Suzuka before Formula 1 hits the track in Qatar in two weeks, Bottas is minded to speak with the Williams rookie about their crash at the Japanese GP. Williams suffered a double-DNF at Suzuka as Albon also retired on Lap 27.

“Yes, maybe I’ll have a word with him to figure out what he was thinking about,” Bottas said, via quotes by Motorsport Week, after the Japanese GP. “It could be it was just a mistake.”

Should Bottas speak with Sargeant to discuss the collision, the Williams driver could suggest the Alfa Romeo ace was overly ambitious with his overtake. Sargeant was ahead of the Finn before locking up entering Turn 11 with enough space for Bottas to note he would run wide.