Valtteri Bottas believes his collision with Kimi Raikkonen at the Mexican Grand Prix could have been avoided, arguing he took a calculated risk by attempting the move.
Bottas and Raikkonen came together on the apex of Turn 5 as the Williams driver attempted to pass the Ferrari on the inside. Bottas positioned his car on the outside of the previous corner to try to set up the move in Turn 5, but Raikkonen closed the door on him, resulting in the collision.
The accident brought an end to Raikkonen's race and was the second time in three races the two drivers have collided after Raikkonen was penalised for his part in their accident in Russia.
"I don't know if there's anything to really speak about," Bottas said. "For me, we were racing hard, obviously, and normally, what I'm used to in those kind of situations, there is enough for two cars when you go into a chicane like that but this time there wasn't. And of course I'm not going to back off, I'm fighting for the positions. I was calculating the risk, I think there was a decent possibility to get through. But, hey, it ended up like this. I don't know if there's anything really to speak about. Unlucky that it was us two that collided again."
Bottas went on to finish third after passing Daniil Kvyat following a safety car period, a move he said was helped by the team's strategy.
"I think it was a really good call from the team; they knew that I would come back after the pit stop in the same position than before the safety car. And why we opted for the medium was that it is a lower working range tyre, it works better with lower temperatures so it seemed to work. I saw Daniel sliding in the last corner and I managed to get really close and then got through."