Miami Grand Prix – Penalty for Valtteri Bottas
Unsurprisingly, Valtteri Bottas has been handed a three-place grid penalty for the Sprint race.
FIA stewards often have a way of making headlines with penalties that can be questionable. In this case, there is no room for debate. Indeed, the images of the incident were quite clear live: Oscar Piastri was approaching at full speed to start Q1 while Valtteri Bottas was on an out lap. However, the Finn was not warned in time and almost cut in front of the McLaren. A collision was narrowly avoided.
On his radio, the Australian declared: If there is no penalty, I don’t know what will be needed. The FIA agrees with the McLaren driver and has therefore imposed a three-place penalty on the Sauber driver, who will start 20th and last.
This one has to learn to work with a new race engineer, since Alex Chan, who he had been working with since arriving in Hinwil in 2022, was abruptly replaced this weekend by Steven Petrik, which did not please him at all. On the radio, the Finn complained that he had been warned far too late about a fast car coming up behind him.
From our special correspondent in Miami.
