Cadillac to investigate Bottas’s high-speed Mexico crash

Cadillac will investigate the failure that ended Valtteri Bottas’s Mexico Grand Prix after a front-left suspension collapse sent him into the barriers at high speed. Team principal Marcin Budkowski said the team would examine the cause and work to prevent a similar accident happening again.

The incident occurred on lap 46 as Bottas approached Turn 1 at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. The suspension failed under braking, sending the Finn into a slide and into the TecPro barrier. The impact left him in his car while he recovered his breath, and the race was stopped so marshals could repair the barrier.

Bottas was taken to the medical centre and given the all-clear. He was excused from media duties, but later said he was grateful to those who checked him and assisted at the scene. He described the impact as severe and said the team needed to investigate thoroughly, learn from the failure and regroup ahead of next week’s race in Sao Paulo.

Bottas’s crash prompts a full investigation

The crash came amid a run of reliability problems for Cadillac in its maiden F1 campaign. Bottas and team-mate Sergio Perez have both experienced failures, although the team said previous issues had been less dangerous, with the drivers able to return to the pits or stop on track.

Budkowski stressed the seriousness of the Mexico incident, saying the team was relieved Bottas was unhurt. The investigation will now focus on determining what caused the suspension failure.

Perez’s home race showed pace but brought setbacks

Perez reached 13th place on merit in the early stages of his home Grand Prix, marking his 300th F1 race start with a promising run in front of the crowd. A slow pitstop and a pitlane speeding penalty, which Cadillac attributed to a software issue, cost him time and positions.

Budkowski described the weekend as Cadillac’s most competitive so far in relative pace and praised both drivers’ starts. He also pointed to equipment problems during both pitstops, which cost the pair track position.

The race therefore offered encouragement on pace, but Bottas’s crash will dominate the team’s post-event work. Cadillac’s investigation will need to establish why the failure occurred before the team can move on. For more on the team’s driver situation, read about Bottas’s 2027 seat outlook and Perez’s Cadillac deal.