MIAMI — A tough Friday afternoon will turn into an even tougher Saturday morning for Sauber driver Valtteri Bottas.
Hours after the end of sprint qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix, Bottas was given a three-place grid penalty by race officials for interfering with Oscar Piastri during the session. As a result of this penalty, Bottas will start Saturday’s F1 sprint race from last place as he was eliminated from SQ1 in 18th place.
The incident occurred during SQ1 when Piastri approached Bottas during a push lap. Bottas had just finished his own push lap and was on the left side of the track. You can view this incident from different angles here.
As you can see, Piastri was quick to condemn the incident as a penalty, while Bottas seemed frustrated that he hadn’t received enough warning from his team.
Race officials summarized the event as follows.which is roughly consistent with the driver’s view.
“Car No. 77 on the straight before turn 1” [Bottas] After completing a fast lap, car No. 81 was driving slowly along the racing line. [Piastri] It was approaching with a fast lap. Cars No. 81 and No. 77 had to take evasive action to avoid a collision.
“The main responsibility lies with the drivers to ensure that they do not get into situations that unnecessarily impede other drivers. Here the No. 77 car was driving slowly on the racing line, causing the situation.
“However, during the hearing, both the team and the driver of the No. 77 car admitted that the team did not warn the driver of the No. 77 car that the No. 81 car was approaching on a fast lap. It was a mistake and contributed greatly to the incident.”
Bottas was demoted three places on the grid, but as he qualified in 18th place, he will only be demoted two spots.
The move comes after Sauber replaced Bottas as race engineer after the Chinese Grand Prix. The driver spoke about the move at a press conference Thursday. “It was a pretty sudden change.” Bottas said on Friday.. “Obviously it’s a sprint weekend so it’s not easy to work with new people, but obviously [we’re] I’m trying to make the most of it. He has a lot of support, but it’s a pretty sudden change.
“This is part of the rebuilding of the team. Some people will leave, some people will join. And obviously a lot of those decisions are not in my hands. I don’t make those decisions.”
