Article by Daniel Grigore – Published Sunday, January 18, 2026, 2:51 p.m. / Updated Sunday, January 18, 2026, 2:51 p.m.
Returning to Formula 1 after spending the 2025 season on the sidelines, Valtteri Bottas (36), now a Cadillac driver, will have to serve a 5-place penalty received in December 2024 while driving for Kick Sauber.
Valtteri Bottas most recently drove in Formula 1 on 8 December 2024, his last race for Kick Sauber, which became Audi for the 2026 season.
Then, following a collision with Kevin Magnussen, Bottas received a 5-place grid penalty for the next race he would start.
As Sauber jumped him for 2025 with Bottas sitting on the touchline last year, he has yet to serve that sentence. He will do so in March, in Australia, in his first Grand Prix as a driver for Formula 1's newest team, Cadillac.
“How ridiculous!” » The F1 champion, scandalized by the situation of Valtteri Bottas: he will have to serve the penalty from 2024
Damon Hill, the 1996 Formula 1 champion, reacted to the situation, writing on social media: “How ridiculous.”
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile has changed the regulations for 2026, following that the penalties will be deleted from the pilots' “record” if they are not repaid within 12 months from the time of the offence, but Bottas' penalty was imposed before the ratification of this regulation amendmentso the Finn will be forced to start five places further back on the grid in Melbourne.
For example, if he is 11th in qualifying, he will start the Grand Prix from 16th place.
In August, an FIA spokesperson told PlanetF1 that “the penalty stands, because there is no mechanism by which to retroactively reverse the penalty imposed in the context at the time“.
“The amendment of the regulation aims to avoid the repetition of similar situations in the future”, he added.
Valtteri Bottas, Lewis Hamilton's teammate at Mercedes for many years, participated in 246 Formula 1 races. He won 10 times and boasts 67 podiums. Regarding the qualifications, a not inconsiderable limit of 20 pole-positions.
His colleague at Cadillac, F1's 11th team, will be Sergio Perez, Max Verstappen's former “lieutenant” at Red Bull Racing, also without a team in 2025.
March 8it is the date of the first race in 2026, in Australia
