Bottas hits back at 'exaggerated' claims

Jul.7 - Felipe Massa has hit back at claims he spoiled Williams' shot at victory at the British grand prix.

Some believe that if teammate Valtteri Bottas had passed the Brazilian rather than been told to hold station after their meteoric starts, the Finn might have charged away from the two Mercedes at Silverstone.

"I think I could have opened a gap," Bottas is quoted by Brazil's UOL Esporte.

"When Felipe stopped, I was a second faster. I had a lot of pace in the first stint. It's always easy to talk afterwards," he acknowledged, "but I think it could have been better for me."

But when asked about Bottas' claims, Massa responded: "That's exaggerated.

"If he was so much faster, he would have passed me. But he tried and failed."

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Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

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