Serious Bottas crash in Mexico: Cadillac F1 announces investigations

A moment of sheer terror at the Mexican Grand Prix! Just as the front runners in the Formula 1 race in Mexico City reached the 45th lap, the marshals suddenly waved yellow flags: Valtteri Bottas had crashed heavily into a Tecpro barrier in his Cadillac. Bernd Mayländer’s safety car came out. Shortly afterwards, the race was red-flagged for almost three-quarters of an hour because repairs to the track barrier took a long time.

The good news: the Finn was, for the time being, unharmed; he quickly got in touch via the radio and was able to get out of the car unaided. Bottas, however, appeared noticeably shaken. No wonder!

How the Bottas crash happened

Replays showed what led to the crash: whilst braking before entering the corner, the suspension on the front-left wheel gave way out of the blue! At top speed, the Cadillac was thrown off course; Bottas lost all control of the car, skidded into the barriers at high speed, with the front left wheel scraping along the tarmac. Brake marks were visible on the tarmac.

Bottas was examined at the circuit medical centre and given the all-clear: everything was fine. Due to the severity of the crash, Bottas was excused from his post-race media duties. However, he issued a statement via his team: “It was a heavy impact at Turn 1, but fortunately I’m fine. Many thanks to the medical team who examined me and to everyone who helped at the scene. This is a testament to the hard work the FIA has put in over many years to make our sport as safe as possible.”

Bottas calls for a thorough review

With fewer safety measures in place, this violent crash could have ended very differently. Bottas hit a section with a fairly wide run-off area, as well as the Tecpro barriers, which absorb a great deal of impact. Bottas warned: “As a team, we must thoroughly analyse everything to understand exactly what happened and ensure that we learn from it.”

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Cadillac team principal Marcin Budkowski announced: “We will thoroughly investigate the cause of this retirement and ensure that such incidents do not happen again.”