Valtteri Bottas has been taken for precautionary medical checks after a crash that caused Formula 1’s Mexican Grand Prix to be red-flagged.
The left front suspension on Bottas’s Cadillac dramatically failed as he approached Turn 1 on lap 45 of the 71-lap race, sending him spinning backwards into the barriers.
The race was stopped for the barriers to be repaired, with the medical team also spending a long time talking to Bottas in the cockpit before he eventually emerged and walked away unaided.
Onboard with Valtteri Bottas for a sizeable crash at Turn 1 😱💥
He is out of the car and ok#F1 #MexicoGP pic.twitter.com/XLqppzQCnL
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 1, 2026
A Cadillac statement said Bottas was “responsive” on team radio and was going to the medical centre for “further medical assessments as a precaution”.
Asked on team radio if he was OK as the crash unfolded, Bottas replied “no. F**k!”.
Once barrier repairs are complete, the race will resume with Max Verstappen leading from Charles Leclerc after the Red Bull driver took advantage of a contentious first-lap incident between Leclerc and polesitting Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton. A penalty for Leclerc over that incident cost him his early lead to Verstappen.
Hamilton initially lost third to likely world champion Kimi Antonelli when he pitted as the safety car initially came out for Bottas’s crash before the race was red-flagged instead. But the restart order has been counted from the lap before, meaning Hamilton keeps third.
