Valtteri Bottas has joked that Andrea Kimi Antonelli may owe him dinner after the Cadillac driver inadvertently influenced the Italian’s Belgian Grand Prix victory fight with Charles Leclerc. The former Mercedes driver delayed the Ferrari slightly while being lapped shortly before Andrea Kimi Antonelli reclaimed the lead at Spa-Francorchamps.
The episode occurred during the closing stages of an intense and spectacular battle between Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc. Although Valtteri Bottas complied with the blue-flag regulations and avoided a penalty, the timing of the lapping situation briefly worked against the Ferrari driver and allowed the Mercedes behind him to close the gap.
Charles Leclerc and Kimi Antonelli fought for the Belgian GP win
Charles Leclerc had benefited from the timing of a Virtual Safety Car before his pit stop, enabling the Monegasque driver to move ahead of Andrea Kimi Antonelli. The Mercedes driver was then forced to recover the lead on the circuit rather than through strategy.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli completed the decisive move on lap 34, attacking and passing the number 16 Ferrari. However, viewers following the race had already noticed that he may have received a small, unintended advantage from Valtteri Bottas, who had previously worked alongside the Italian at Mercedes in his role as a test driver.
The key moment unfolded near the end of the lap before the overtake. Both Charles Leclerc and Andrea Kimi Antonelli came up to lap Valtteri Bottas, but the Ferrari reached the Cadillac first and lost several tenths of a second while trying to find a way through.
Bottas caught Leclerc in the most difficult section of Spa
Charles Leclerc was unfortunate to catch Valtteri Bottas in one of Spa-Francorchamps’ most demanding sequences, between Pouhon and Stavelot. With the track twisting through a series of high-speed corners, there was no immediate and straightforward opportunity for the Cadillac driver to move aside.
Charles Leclerc eventually completed the pass only as the circuit began to open towards the run to Blanchimont. Andrea Kimi Antonelli, following closely behind, therefore lost less time and was able to place himself in a stronger position ahead of the next lap.
Valtteri Bottas was not penalised despite failing to move aside immediately for the race leader because he remained within the requirements of the blue-flag rules. After the Grand Prix, however, he acknowledged that the speed at which Charles Leclerc and Andrea Kimi Antonelli arrived behind him had caught him off guard.
Valtteri Bottas asks whether he influenced the overtake
Speaking to journalists at Spa, Valtteri Bottas admitted that he had been genuinely surprised by how rapidly the leading pair approached his Cadillac. He then asked whether his lapping situation had really played a decisive role in the battle.
“The speed at which they were approaching was so high that it really caught me by surprise,” Valtteri Bottas admitted. “So, I don’t know, did it make the difference, me being lapped? Did he overtake him straight afterwards?”
Once reporters confirmed that Andrea Kimi Antonelli had passed Charles Leclerc on the lap immediately following the encounter with the Cadillac, Valtteri Bottas responded with a light-hearted suggestion.
“Yes? Oh, okay. Then Kimi can buy me dinner!” Valtteri Bottas joked, before making clear that he had not deliberately attempted to influence the fight. “No, I’m joking. It was really the speed at which they approached that caught me completely by surprise.”
An accidental contribution to Antonelli’s Spa victory
Valtteri Bottas therefore became an unlikely and entirely unintended participant in the fight for victory. He did not breach the blue-flag regulations or deliberately hold up Charles Leclerc, but the location of the encounter meant the Ferrari driver lost more time than Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
The episode did not decide the race on its own, as Andrea Kimi Antonelli still had to attack and complete the overtake on track. Nevertheless, the small amount of time Charles Leclerc surrendered behind the Cadillac helped the Mercedes driver draw closer at a critical point in the closing stages.
For Valtteri Bottas, the situation provided a humorous post-race talking point. For Andrea Kimi Antonelli, it was one of several small factors that helped create the opportunity to reclaim first place from Charles Leclerc and complete his Belgian Grand Prix victory.
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