F1 Mexican Grand Prix: Race Halted—What Happened After Bottas’s Serious Crash

Cadillac driver Valtteri Bottas was involved in a frightening crash on the 41st lap of the Mexican Grand Prix, and the race was halted: the race will restart from the starting grid after the debris from the Finnish driver’s car has been cleared.

Bottas’s Cadillac suffered a failure in the left front suspension, likely while braking: the driver crashed into the safety barriers at high speed. The car was destroyed, but the driver emerged unharmed.

All lap times were canceled, and the race restarts from the starting grid with Verstappen in the lead ahead of the two Ferraris driven by Leclerc and Hamilton and the Mercedes driven by Kimi Antonelli, who is one step away from the world title.

Lewis Hamilton remains angry after what happened at the start of the Grand Prix with Leclerc: as he got out of the car, he kicked a scooter. It all started in the opening seconds of the race. Leclerc, starting from third place, made a strong start to pass Russell and attacked Hamilton, who had started from pole position, taking the lead after a collision and cutting across the track. The Monegasque driver was supposed to give the position back to his teammate, but he couldn’t do so because Max Verstappen had slipped between them in the meantime.

Leclerc was then penalized by the stewards with a 5-second penalty. Over the radio, the seven-time world champion made no secret of his anger: “My teammate pushed me off the track.” Hamilton then exploded when he learned the extent of the penalty, which he considered too lenient: “The stewards are essentially handing the victory to Leclerc. They robbed me of a win.” A heated debate erupted on social media, with thousands of comments, most of which were critical of Leclerc and his conduct on the first lap.