Valtteri Bottas has been dealt a further blow following confirmation that he will be forced to serve a grid penalty following his qualifying crash.
Bottas lost control of his Mercedes on the exit of turn two at Melbourne’s Albert Park and suffered significant damage to his car after he smashed into the wall.
The 28-year-old Finn emerged unscathed from the 110mph shunt, but will drop five places on the grid after his Mercedes team revealed he will require a new gearbox.
It means Bottas is due to start a lowly 15th at Sunday’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
In contrast, Bottas’ team-mate Lewis Hamilton will line up from pole position after he stormed to the top of the order following his emphatic qualifying lap.
“It is a garage of contrasting emotions today with a really unfortunate end to qualifying for Valtteri,” Toto Wolff, the Mercedes executive director said.
“It was a big hit and the boys will have a long job list to get the car ready to race. It’s now about putting the incident behind him and recovering as strongly as possible.”
Bottas was taken to the medical centre for a precautionary check-up following the high-speed crash before he was swiftly given the all-clear.
Bottas will start in the 15th spot on Sunday at Melbourne.
The former Williams driver is out of contract with Mercedes at the end of the season, and his crash here is hardly the start he needed in his pursuit of a new deal.
“I went wide in turn one and the kerb was still a bit damp, so I lost the rear of the car and hit the wall outside of turn two,” Bottas explained.
“It’s very unfortunate and I feel sorry for the team because we have a really competitive car. It looked like it was damaged pretty badly, so I really hope we can fix it for the race.
“Overtaking is difficult on this track, but we’ll try everything we can. We have a good car, so I’ll try to fight back.”
