Why Valtteri Bottas cannot start first in his Cadillac F1 debut

Imagine this scenario: Valtteri Bottas, making his dramatic return to the Formula 1 grid with the incoming Cadillac team, shocks the sporting world next spring by capturing pole position for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix and starts the first race of the season at the front of the pack.

If that sounds like an implausible scenario straight out of the screenplay for the sequel to F1: The Movie, you are more right than you think.

Not only would it be a true surprise for a new F1 team to take pole position in their first race, but there is a reason that even if he somehow pulls off that accomplishment, Bottas cannot start in P1.

Because of what happened in his last race on the grid.

Driving for Sauber at the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the final race of the season and his final race with the team, Bottas was cited twice by race officials for causing a collision. The first collision came early in the race, when Bottas collided with Sergio Pérez (his new Cadillac teammate) at Turn 6. Then, later in the race, Bottas was adjusted to have caused another collision, again at Turn 6, this time with Kevin Magnusse.

While Bottas was given a ten-second penalty and a pair of penalty points on his FIA Super License for the first infraction, race officials delivered a much stiffer penalty for the second. Ruling that Bottas “misjudged his braking significantly,” they imposed a drive-through penalty. But given that Bottas had already retired from the race when that decision was handed down, it was converted to a five-place grid drop “for the next Race in which the driver participates,” along with three penalty points on his FIA Super License.

With Bottas currently serving as a reserve driver, it appears the next “Race in which [Bottas] participates” will be the season opener next year, with Cadillac. So even if he stuns the world and qualifies first, the highest he can start in that race is P6.

Now, there is a change being made to the FIA Sporting Regulations starting with the 2026 season that would address this issue in the future. The incoming Section B1.10.4(g) adjusts the grid penalties stewards can impose to read “A drop of any number of grid positions for the next Sprint or Race in which the driver participates in the subsequent twelve (12) month period.”

That means that starting next season, drivers in the same position that Bottas is in now will see that grid drop wiped away if they go a calendar year without races.

Bottas, however, will not get the benefit of that change.

Nor will he get a Hollywood start to his Cadillac career, but he could still deliver a Hollywood ending.