Valtteri Bottas has called on Cadillac to investigate a potentially bizarre computer glitch in his car after crashing in the final stages of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The Finn endured a miserable race at the Baku City Circuit, possessing equipment only capable of fighting the Aston Martins at the foot of the field.
Bottas was set to make the chequered flag, albeit in the final place among the cars still running, but crashed at Turn 15, just yards from starting the penultimate lap. The incident prevented him from finishing and raised questions about the reliability of the MAC-26's electronic systems.
After the race, Bottas theorised that an excursion at Turn 1 earlier in the lap, and the time it took him to rejoin the circuit proper, may have caused the system on his car to be effectively baffled. "First of all, on the same lap, I had a lock-up into Turn 1, I went wide," he explained. "Then I think the systems got a bit confused, because of the extra distance."
He added, "I had a huge super-clip into Turn 15 and then, when I hit the brakes, only the front brakes worked. It was almost like I wasn’t harvesting anymore with the rears, so something became a bit confused there. We need to have a look at what happened, but it was an odd one, because it felt like I lost the rear brakes. It felt like I lost the rear harvesting."
Bottas was intrigued enough that he remained at the scene to examine the car, which got him in trouble with the stewards, who investigated him for being in an unsafe place. The incident will likely spark further debate about the popularity – or lack of – of F1’s regulations, which came into effect this season, due to the increased computerisation of the new near 50/50 hybrid power units.
The crash adds to the list of issues teams have faced with the new technology. Previously, Flavio Briatore of Alpine made a pledge after Franco Colapinto's crash, and Red Bull issued radio praise to Isack Hadjar during his outstanding F1 return. Bottas's case highlights the complexity of the latest generation of cars, where minor errors can have major consequences.
With this incident, Cadillac is expected to conduct a thorough investigation to understand exactly what happened to Bottas's car. The findings will be crucial not only for improving team performance but also for ensuring driver safety on track. F1 itself is under pressure to re-evaluate technical regulations that are considered overly complex and potentially dangerous.
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