Why Valtteri Bottas already has a grid penalty

– Spicy premiere for Cadillac: The US racing team makes its Formula 1 debut in Melbourne, but for Valtteri Bottas, the new era begins directly with a handicap. The Finn will be moved back five places on the starting grid – and that’s because of an incident that happened 15 months ago.

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Review of the 2024 season finale in Abu Dhabi: At that time still in the service of Sauber (now Audi), Bottas spun Sergio Perez’s Red Bull in the first lap and received a 10-second penalty for it. Just 45 minutes later, there was another crash: During Kevin Magnussen’s attempt to overtake the Finn on the outside of Turn 6, Bottas misjudged his braking and took out the Haas.

Since Bottas had to end the race early due to the damage, the stewards could not impose a penalty during the race. Instead, there is a five-place grid penalty for his “next race”.

The 2025 break changes nothing about the sanction

Since Bottas did not receive a regular seat for the 2025 season and his commitment as a Mercedes reserve driver did not lead to any race appearances, the penalty remained “frozen” for over a year. The regulations have since been adjusted – stewards can now let penalties expire within a 12-month window – but this innovation does not apply retroactively.

As the FIA already fixed in writing on December 8, 2024, the penalty must be served at the driver’s next start, regardless of the time interval. Since Cadillac is not necessarily considered a Q3 candidate in Melbourne, the demotion for the veteran at the back of the field should be bearable.

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No ban for Bottas – but Oliver Bearman must tremble

A small consolation for Bottas: The five penalty points he received at the time for his super license account were automatically deleted after 12 months. This means he is not threatened with a race ban. The situation is quite different for Oliver Bearman. (Overview of Formula 1 penalty points)

The Haas pilot has been walking a fine line for months. As of September 7, 2025, the Briton had already collected ten points. Two points expired in the meantime, but a collision with Liam Lawson in Sao Paulo on November 8 brought his point total back to ten. At twelve points, there is a race ban.

This means that Bearman must not commit any more offenses until the Canadian Grand Prix (the seventh race of 2026). Only on that Saturday will two of his points be deleted.

Behind Bearman, the situation in the field is much more relaxed. Liam Lawson and Lance Stroll, as the next pursuers, only have six penalty points each.

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