Valtteri Bottas can be up towards it from the very begin in Melbourne.
Valtteri Bottas will serve a grid penalty on his Cadillac debut in Melbourne (Picture: Getty)
Valtteri Bottas can be served a grid penalty at this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix as he returns to F1 after a year-long absence. The skilled Finn spent the of final season as a reserve driver for Mercedes after leaving Sauber, now rebranded as Audi, on the finish of 2024. He’s now again on the grid full-time, having been snapped up by Cadillac for his or her inaugural season alongside Sergio Perez.
Bottas can be hoping for a powerful weekend in Melbourne regardless of Cadillac being tipped to run among the many backmarkers within the early a part of the marketing campaign. Nonetheless, his hopes of a points-paying end have already been dashed by the powers that be. He can be pressured to serve a five-place grid penalty due to an incident in his remaining race for Sauber in 2024.
At that yr’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the 36-year-old was concerned in a collision with Perez on the opening lap. He tagged his new team-mate right into a spin, incomes himself a 10-second time penalty.
Later within the race, Bottas locked up his entrance wheels and drove straight into the again of Kevin Magnussen, who was participating in his remaining Grand Prix earlier than leaving Haas.
The latter collision pressured Bottas to retire from the race, along with his automobile too broken to proceed. As a result of he was unable to serve the drive-through penalty he acquired for ramming Magnussen, it was transformed right into a grid drop for his subsequent race.
There have been no alternatives for Bottas to serve that penalty final season as a result of he wasn’t on the grid. In consequence, it is going to be utilized to this weekend’s race in Australia.
That’s regardless of a subsequent rule change from the FIA, which states that grid penalties can be served “on the driver’s subsequent Dash or Race during which the motive force participates within the subsequent 12-month interval”.
The skilled Finn has been snapped up by Cadillac for his or her debut season (Picture: Getty)
Nonetheless, that rule will solely apply to sanctions handed out sooner or later, which means Bottas will not be spared in Melbourne.
Regardless of the challenges he could face as Cadillac navigate their first season in F1, he’s trying ahead to the brand new marketing campaign and believes the sky is the restrict.
Chatting with Categorical Sport in an interview revealed final month, Bottas mentioned: “It is fairly a uncommon alternative in anybody’s profession to be in a group that joins F1 as a brand new group.
“I’ve now correctly seen how the group really operates in all areas. I’ve far more capability to only go searching, as a substitute of simply trying on the information and driving the automobile.
“It has been fascinating. I feel I’ve discovered so much about how the group is definitely being run. My scope is far wider, I’d say 95 per cent wider than what I used to have.
“I feel that is going to assist me. It has made me a extra full driver as effectively, having that sort of information.”
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