Cadillac Launches Investigation into Bottas’ High-Speed Suspension Failure at Mexico GP

Cadillac Formula 1 team principal Marcin Budkowski has vowed to ensure accidents like the one that ended Valtteri Bottas’ Mexico Grand Prix do not happen again.

Bottas was at top speed entering Turn 1 on lap 46 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez when his front-left suspension collapsed under braking, sending the Finn into a slide and into the TecPro barrier.

The force of the impact left the former race winner remaining in his MAC-26 while he regained his breath, prompting a red flag to suspend the race as marshals repaired the barriers.

Team radio later shared on social media captured an agitated Bottas shouting expletives before race engineer John Howard asked if he was okay. “F**k no,” was the response from the former Williams, Mercedes, and Alfa Romeo driver.

After receiving the all-clear at the medical centre, Bottas was excused from media duties. In Cadillac’s post-race debrief, he explained: “It was a big impact going into Turn 1, but thankfully I’m OK.”

Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac Racing

Photo by: James Sutton / LAT Images via Getty Images

“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.”

“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. We’ll regroup now and focus on continuing to make progress in Sao Paulo next week.”

Bottas and teammate Sergio Perez have endured numerous reliability failures across Cadillac’s maiden F1 campaign, although most were far less dangerous, with both drivers able to either pull into the pit garage or stop safely on track.

Emphasizing the severity of this issue in the same debrief, Budkowski said: “Everyone is relieved that Valtteri is OK after the incident on lap 46. We will fully investigate the cause of this failure and ensure such accidents do not happen again.”

Perez Marks 300th F1 Start with Positive Home Showing

On the other side of the garage, Perez delivered a promising performance for the team in front of his home crowd as he reached his 300th Formula 1 start.

The Mexican had worked his way up to 13th in the opening stages on merit and held off those behind him, though a slow pit stop and a later pit-lane speeding penalty—attributed to a software issue—ultimately derailed what had been a strong showing.

“Taking the positives, it was our most competitive weekend in terms of relative pace and very encouraging to see both drivers fighting in the pack,” insisted Budkowski.

Dan Towriss, Cadillac Racing, Marcin Budkowski, Cadillac Racing

Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images

“They both had great starts, especially Checo, who had phenomenal first laps after both starts and was running up into P13 at one stage. We had some equipment issues in both pit stops which cost both drivers time and positions on track.”

“Congratulations to Checo on his historic 300th Grand Prix start—it has been such a memorable week for him and the whole team at his home race.”

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