“Significant damage” on the car of a shaken Bottas but fit for combat

Victim of a violent exit from the track at the very end of Q3 in Mexico, Valtteri Bottas suffered an impact estimated at 17G when hitting a Tecpro barrier after sliding along the wall. His W10 was “ badly damaged » according to the words of Mercedes. 

A nightmare end to qualifying for Valtteri Bottas!

But thankfully he is okay #MexicoGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/TakzoATo2i

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 26, 2019

After a check-up visit to the circuit's medical center, the Finn, who remains the only driver able to prevent his teammate Lewis Hamilton to be titled this season, received the green light from the FIA ​​to line up at the start of the Mexican Grand Prix.

Despite the significant damage suffered by its car, Mercedes believes it will be able to repair the car without Bottas falling back on the grid on Sunday.

« We are 90% confident that we can carry out repairs without incurring penalties., declared the main team Toto wolff. The angle of the impact is quite unusual so we didn't do too badly. The guys are rebuilding the car as we speak. We will have to look at things in detail but for the moment we have not seen any damage to the gearbox. That said, we don't yet know if there are any leaks. ». 

A change of gearboxes would mean a drop of 5 places on the grid, while a new chassis would lead to a start from the pit lane. 

Returning to the paddock after his obligatory check-up, Bottas returned to the circumstances of the accident and wondered about the presence of the Tecpro barrier which stopped his swerve on the slides. 

« I was on a good lap and I think I could have fought for 3rd place, declared the Finn. At the last corner, I went out a little too wide and was surprised by the traction. I hit the wall then the Tecpro barrier: it wasn’t pretty.

I think we should avoid having such an obstacle here; I will raise this point at the next Drivers briefing. At the time, my knee hurt but I think I just hit a nerve. It's better now ». 

In the absence of a penalty, Bottas will start the Mexican GP on Sunday from 6th place on the grid, two rows behind Hamilton. The Finn must prevent the Briton from scoring 14 points more than him if he wants to extend the fight for the title at least until Austin.