Cadillac confirms investigation findings after scary Valtteri Bottas crash
Cadillac boss Marcin Budkowski has confirmed that the team has implemented a fix to avoid a repeat of Valtteri Bottas’ spectacular suspension failure at the Mexico City Grand Prix.
Bottas crashed at over 200mph after his front-left suspension failed under braking on Sunday.
Cadillac introduce ‘mitigations’ after Valtteri Bottas suspension failure
Bottas suffered a frightening shunt in Mexico, when his front-left suspension buckled and shattered under heavy braking for Turn 1, on lap 41 of Sunday’s grand prix.
Cars arrive at that braking zone at speeds of around 200mph, and although the run-off and barriers did their jobs to reduce the speed and dissipate much of the energy of the impact, Bottas was still visibly shaken by the crash.
Suspension failures such as this are extremely rare in modern F1, but it is the second example for Cadillac in its maiden campaign.
The previous occasion came at the Canadian Grand Prix, and saw the front-right corner of Sergio Perez’s car fail as he entered the pit lane. Unlike Bottas’ example, this happened under minimal braking load.
“We are coming off our most competitive race of the season in Mexico City, where our pace relative to our direct competitors showed encouraging progress,” said Budkowski.
“Following our post-race investigations, Valtteri suffered a suspension failure, and we have implemented mitigations going forward.”
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Despite the failure, Cadillac allowed Perez to complete the race in the sister car following the red flag period.
“After a difficult end to the weekend in Mexico, I’m looking forward to getting back in the car at Interlagos,” said Bottas.
“It’s a great circuit to drive, with the elevation changes and a mix of corners that really reward getting into a good rhythm.
“The weather can make things interesting here, so we’ll need to be ready to adapt and take any opportunities that come our way. It’s been a busy triple-header for everyone, and we’re focused on putting together a clean weekend and finishing this run of races on a positive note.”
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