Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, Circuit of the Americas, 2021

Bottas says he “can still have a good race” despite latest grid penalty

RaceFans Round-up

Posted on

| Written by

In the round-up: Valtteri Bottas says his third power unit change penalty in four races need not spoil his weekend in Austin.

In brief

COTA surface has lost “quite a bit” of grip – Bottas

Bottas has exceeded the maximum allocation of power unit components for the third time in four races, which means he will have a five-place grid penalty.

“It’s unfortunate that we have to take a penalty,” said Bottas, “but this time it’s a bit of a smaller penalty than some other time. So five places, I’m sure I can still have a good race from there.”

He said there was “still a lot of work to do with the set-up” due to changes in the track surface since F1 last raced at the Circuit of the Americas in 2019.

“It’s not the easiest to drive at all and it feels like in some places this track has lost quite a bit of grip. So then the balance is a bit inconsistent.”

No pressure on O’Ward for F1 test debut – Brown

Zak Brown is impressed with Pato O’Ward’s F1 simulator session with McLaren, ahead of his Abu Dhabi test debut in December.

“Pato’s a great talent,” said Brown. “He had a great IndyCar season, winning a couple of races, gave it a shot at the championship going down to the last race in Long Beach, is extremely fast, is quite a big personality.”

“It’s important that we don’t put too much pressure on him and see how he gets on,” Brown added.

Chadwick tops both COTA practice sessions for W Series finale

Jamie Chadwick topped both W Series practice sessions, ahead of the double header title decider at COTA. In both sessions, she was followed in the ranking by Abbi Pulling and Beitske Visser.

The second session was stopped with five minutes remaining as Abbie Eaton spun on track and was unable to get going again.

W Series qualifying will be held after F1’s final practice, with drivers’ best times deciding their order for the Saturday race and second-best times setting the Sunday grid. Chadwick and Alice Powell go into the weekend tied on 109 points, with Powell ahead on countback. With a maximum of 50 available over the two races, Emma Kimilainen, the only driver to win a race this year aside from Chadwick and Powell, also remains in contention.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Social media

Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Comment of the day

Although anyone who (closely) followed Formula E’s 2018-19 season might disagree, Sonny Crockett says Lewis Hamilton’s offhand suggestion of an Americas championship is actually pretty fun and gives more for teams and drivers to compete for.

I quite like the idea of multiple championships within the championship.

The top points scorer in Europe could be crowned champion of Europe. The same for The Americas, Asia etc…

It gives drivers that might not be in with a chance of winning the driver’s championship the opportunity to fight for a trophy.
@Sonnycrockett

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Manatcna!

If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is via the contact form or adding to the list here.

Author information

Hazel Southwell
Hazel is a motorsport and automotive journalist with a particular interest in hybrid systems, electrification, batteries and new fuel technologies....

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

3 comments on “Bottas says he “can still have a good race” despite latest grid penalty”

  1. Bottas being ‘unlucky’ again..

  2. I agree with Anderson. He should’ve parked in front of a marked hole as one was already nearby.

    Only half a second, a positive surprise since 3-3.5 was the initial estimation two years ago given by Nikolas Tombazis.
    At the time, I hoped at least a second closer, i.e., 2-2.5, so I’m not complaining. Racing quality, of course, matters more.

    I expect AusGP to open the 2023 season as long as the race goes ahead as scheduled next season.
    If necessary, it can occur earlier in March so both Bahrain & SA could fit in before Ramadan begins.

    I don’t share COTD’s view.

  3. I found Desus’ comment “its like coming home from work and doing a work simulation” to be quite funny.
    why they chose to race around Monaco, doesn’t make sense for a novice

Comments are closed.