Valtteri Bottas received a warning from the FIA stewards for not correctly following the race director’s instructions during the TL3 of the Spanish Formula 1 GP. The Cadillac driver finished the session in 21st place, while Kimi Antonelli, from Mercedes, was the fastest.
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The incident happened amid traffic problems recorded on the new Madrid circuit. Bottas drew the stewards’ attention by trying to make space for an approaching car, repeating a similar situation that also involved Alex Albon from Williams during the session.
According to the stewards’ decision, Bottas slowed down before turn 5 to allow the passage of an approaching car. Upon reaching the turn, however, he accelerated to clear the trajectory, left the track to the right of the yellow line, and returned without staying to the right of the marker located in the escape area.
“The stewards acknowledge the driver’s efforts to manage traffic, but determine that it would have been possible to follow the instructions presented in the race director’s competition notes,” the stewards said in a statement.
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The warning was applied before the qualifying session in Madrid. Cadillac has yet to score points in the 2026 season, while Bottas achieved the team’s best result so far at the Chinese GP, finishing in 13th place.
The episode comes shortly after Bottas downplayed concerns about his future at Cadillac following the arrival of Marcin Budkowski as the new team principal. The Finn confirmed in a press conference that he is secured for 2027, although he left discussions about the period beyond for another time: “I am still fully set for next year. Afterwards, eventually, we will talk about what will happen beyond 2027, but not yet,” he added.
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