Valtteri Bottas walked away from a massive shunt at the Mexico City Grand Prix after his Cadillac suffered a suspension failure midway through the race. Starting from the back of the grid due to a raft of penalties for new PU components, the Finn had fought his way up to 17th place following an early pit stop to try and undercut his rivals.
That recovery came to a sudden halt on Lap 46. The front-left suspension appeared to break at the end of the main straight, leaving Bottas completely helpless as he slid straight through the run-off area at Turn 1 and struck the barriers rearwards.
Despite the limitations with our current package, we always aim for solid operational execution, and we have come up short today. Lots to analyse on and act on before another important race in Brazil.
“It was a big impact going into Turn 1, but thankfully I’m okay,” Bottas revealed after the race, having initially been excused from some of his media duties. He was taken to the Medical Centre for precautionary checks before being released, with no indication that he will miss the upcoming race in Sao Paulo.
“Thank you to the medical team for checking me over and to everyone who helped at the scene. It is a testament to the hard work the FIA has put in over many years to make our sport as safe as possible,” Bottas added. “We need to work through everything thoroughly as a team to understand exactly what happened, and make sure we learn from it. We had a strong opening lap and made up some places, so it’s disappointing not to finish another race.”
This mechanical failure is not an isolated incident for Cadillac this year. Sergio Perez previously suffered a similar problem with the front-right corner of his car earlier in the season in Canada.
Team Principal Marcin Budkowski addressed the team's struggles following the retirement. “Firstly, everyone is relieved that Valtteri is okay after the incident on Lap 46. We will fully investigate the cause of this failure and ensure such accidents do not happen again,” Budkowski said. “Despite the limitations with our current package, we always aim for solid operational execution, and we have come up short today. Lots to analyse on and act on before another important race in Brazil.”
Despite the disappointment of his own early exit, Bottas still found time to send a message to Kimi Antonelli, with the two remaining friends from their time working together at Mercedes. "Congratulations Kimi & Mercedes," Bottas wrote on social media. "You have made the world speechless with your performance and maturity this year. So proud of you."
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