The director of the Cadillac team in Formula 1, Marcin Budkowski, has assured that measures will be taken to avoid accidents like the one suffered by Valtteri Bottas during the Mexican Grand Prix. The failure of the left front suspension of his vehicle caused an incident that left the Finnish driver shaken.
Bottas was at full speed entering turn 1 on lap 46 when, suddenly, his suspension failed while braking. This setback caused him to lose control of the car, which ended up crashing into the TecPro barrier. Due to the damage inflicted, Bottas was left stopped inside his MAC-26 while he caught his breath, leading to the race being halted with a red flag to repair the barrier.
In a radio conversation with his race engineer, John Howard, Bottas, visibly shaken, expressed his frustration with strong words. After going through the medical center, where he was discharged, the driver stated: ‘It was a big impact in turn 1, but fortunately I am fine.’
Valtteri Bottas also thanked the medical staff for their assistance and emphasized the importance of safety in competition. ‘It is essential that we thoroughly analyze what has happened and learn from it. We had a good start to the race and it is disappointing not to have finished,’ he added.
Throughout this inaugural season of Cadillac in Formula 1, both Bottas and his teammate, Sergio Pérez, have suffered several reliability failures, although these have been less severe, allowing the drivers to retire from the tracks without incidents. Budkowski acknowledged the seriousness of Bottas’s accident and assured that a thorough investigation will be carried out to prevent similar situations from occurring.
On the other hand, Pérez celebrated his 300th participation in F1 with a notable performance in front of his home crowd in Mexico. Despite advancing to thirteenth position in the early moments of the race, a long pit stop and a penalty for speeding in the pit zone undermined his good performance. Budkowski highlighted that the weekend had been the most competitive for the team, with both drivers fighting in the leading group.
Budkowski congratulated Pérez on his 300th Grand Prix, noting that it had been a memorable week for him and the entire team.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
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