Tire blunder costs Bottas, Williams at Spa (VIDEO) - MotorSportsTalk

Valtteri Bottas and Williams Martini Racing made something of a deal heading into this weekend that the Bottas-to-Ferrari rumors had the potential to damage driver and team’s relationship.

Yet it’s miscues like the one that struck Bottas today in the Belgian Grand Prix that has actual implications, and wound up costing them better points.

After starting third, Bottas ended an unrepresentative ninth after the Williams team botched a pit stop on Lap 10, providing the Finn with a mismatched set of prime tires.

After it happened, the team tweeted this:

We will look into how the mix up happened after the race, for now just focusing on scoring as many points as possible from here #BelgianGP

— WILLIAMS RACING (@WilliamsRacing) August 23, 2015

Bottas served a drive-through penalty on Lap 15 and then pitted again on Lap 23 to take on a full, unblemished set of primes.

By that point the damage was done and Bottas could only get back to ninth, as he and Felipe Massa both gained a spot in the final laps following Sebastian Vettel’s tire blowout.

“We haven’t got the result we were after today,” Bottas said post-race. “The pit stop and the race pace are two areas that we need to investigate.

“We thought we would be stronger during the race but the soft tire in the first stint didn’t work as well and put us in a difficult position. We have to make sure we bounce back well in Monza.”

Massa’s sixth place moves him ahead of Bottas in the Driver’s Championship, 82-79. Massa and Raikkonen are now level fourth on 82, with Bottas down to sixth on 79.

The team lost two points to Red Bull in the fight for third in the Constructor’s Championship. However Williams still leads that, 161-108.

Follow @TonyDiZinno

Ryan Hunter-Reay was named to replace Conor Daly in Ed Carpenter Racing’s No. 20 Dallara-Chevrolet, starting in the NTT IndyCar Series event next week at Road America.

Hunter-Reay is the 2012 series champion and 2014 Indianapolis 500 winner. He finished 11th for Dreyer & Reinbold last month in the 107th Indy 500, his first start since the 2021 season finale. He drove full time for Andretti Autosport from 2010-21.

“We need to improve our competitiveness and I wanted to add a fresh perspective from a driver like Ryan who has a massive amount of experience and success as well as a reputation as a team leader. I am excited to welcome Ryan to the team,” team owner Ed Carpenter said in a team release. “We have worked together in the past as teammates and he tested for ECR at Barber Motorsports Park in October 2021, where he made an immediate impact as we were able to qualify one of our cars on the pole following that test. I am confident that his experience and technical abilities will be an asset to ECR as we move forward toward our goals as a team.”

Hunter-Reay has 18 IndyCar victories, most recently in 2018. He also is a winner in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, having been a part of winning entries in the 2020 Twelve Hours of Sebring and 2018 Petit Le Mans. Last year, he was an endurance driver for Cadillac Racing while being on standby for Chip Ganassi Racing.

He replaces Daly, whose departure was announced a day earlier in what the driver and team said was a mutual decision.

“I was surprised when I got the call from Ed,” Hunter-Reay said in a team release. “He described how frustrated he was that his team has not been able to realize its potential despite their efforts, investments, as well as technical and personnel changes over the past few years and asked for my help. Ed and I are very close friends and have been for a long time. I’ve worked with the team in the past and they are a very talented group with high expectations and a committed partner in BITNILE.COM.

“This will certainly be a challenge for me as well. It’s a tough situation jumping in a car in the middle of the season without any testing in what I believe to be the most competitive series in the world. Certainly, part of my motivation in saying ‘yes’ to Ed is the great challenge ahead. The last time I turned right driving an NTT IndyCar Series car was in October of 2021 with this team at Barber. However, I remain very confident in both my driving and technical abilities and believe by working with the talented people at ECR and Team Chevy, while representing BITNILE.COM, we will make progress. I am going to do everything I can do to help the team achieve its long-term objectives.”

Said Milton “Todd” Ault, the chairman of sponsor BitNile.com: “It is great for BitNile.com to be aligned with an Indy 500 Winner and an NTT IndyCar Series champion. I have followed Ryan’s career for years and I am confident he will challenge the entire ECR team to perform at higher levels. I wish everyone luck at Road America.”