LE CASTELLET, France -- Valtteri Bottas said Sebastian Vettel's penalty at the French Grand Prix offered some consolation after he went from second on the grid to seventh at the finish thanks to a collision with the Ferrari driver.
Bottas was in second place when Vettel ran deep into the first corner and the two cars collided, forcing both to pit for repairs. The pit stop dropped Bottas to last place and the resulting damage to the floor of his car hindered his progression back through the field.
Vettel was given a five-second penalty for causing the collision, but still finished two places ahead of Bottas. Asked if he felt the penalty was fair, Bottas said: "Well, I lost quite a lot more than five seconds, for sure.
"I don't know, but at least it's a penalty and everyone knows who was at fault."
Asked if Vettel had apologised after the race, Bottas added: "Yes, he apologised but I don't know what to say. It was weird what he did but I guess it was a mistake."
The result in France leaves Bottas 53 points off teammate Lewis Hamilton and follows a series of missed opportunities, including a late retirement from the lead in Baku.
"I think today sums my season, so far -- it was really not my day," he said. "Everything seemed to go against me today. I was hit in Turn 1, got a puncture, that made quite a bit of damage in the floor, which made it quite difficult to comeback through, but at least we got some points."