Formula 1 British GP
Bottas disqualified from F1 British GP qualifying
Valtteri Bottas has been disqualified from qualifying for Formula 1’s 2023 British Grand Prix after his Alfa Romeo was deemed to have an insufficient fuel sample left in it.
Adam Cooper
Edited: Jul 9, 2023, 5:53 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Exclusion from qualifying is the standard outcome for the offence, with Alex Albon the last driver to get such a penalty at last year’s Australian GP.
Bottas stopped on track in Q1, reporting no power, having already done enough to progress through to Q2 in 11th place.
He was not able to take part in the second session, and thus without setting a time he was classified 15th after it.
However, following the session the FIA discovered that there was insufficient fuel in the car to fulfil the mandatory requirement of one litre left in the car for testing.
When a car stops on track in qualifying the FIA also calculates how much fuel would have been used to get back to the pits because cars are obliged to return under their own power, which is not the case at the end of races.
The FIA’s technical delegate Jo Bauer noted: “After the qualifying session today it was checked on car number 77, that a 1-litre fuel sample plus the amount of fuel that would have been consumed to drive back to the pits could be taken (technical regulations article 6.5.2). It was possible to take a 0.090 litre sample.
“As the amount of fuel needed to produce a 1-litre sample plus to return the car to the garage was calculated as 2.39 litre, I am referring this matter to the stewards for their consideration.”
The stewards noted that there were no mitigating circumstances for Alfa Romeo having not been able to provide a sufficient fuel sample.
With the Alfa driver’s exclusion confirmed, he can start from the back of the grid. This means Sergio Perez, Yuki Tsunoda, Zhou Guanyu, Nyck de Vries and Kevin Magnussen have each gained a place.
Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo F1 Team, Pirelli Hot Laps
Photo by: Michael Potts / Motorsport Images
Asked by Motorsport.com about the issue in qualifying, Bottas said he didn’t know why the car had stopped.
"Not yet,” he noted. “We need to find out. There's obviously many reasons that can cause the engine to stop. So I don't know. It's a shame, but not much I can do for that.
"I didn't actually see the final time from Q2 I don't know how far I was from the from the cut-off, but at least we made it through to Q2 this time, and it's actually extremely close.
"So I think we made some steps from yesterday. So now we still need to wait till tomorrow that we see how is the pace."
Read Also:
- Norris: "Pretty insane" to be two tenths off F1 British GP pole
- F1 British GP: Verstappen on pole as McLaren drivers star
Bottas said the latest upgrade package has improved the car: "It's a step. I definitely feel the step and I think today we managed to extract a bit more with a setup. It seems like it needed a different set-up in terms of ride height and everything.
“So now it actually felt a step, more high-speed load basically, without affecting the low-speed performance.”
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Norris: "Pretty insane" to be two tenths off F1 British GP pole
Next article Verstappen explains F1 British GP qualifying pitlane incident
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Adam Cooper
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
Apr 10, 2024
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Formula 1
Formula 1 Apr 10, 2024
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
Formula 1
Formula 1 Apr 10, 2024
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
Latest news
“I was getting beat up” – How Daniel Ricciardo burned out on ‘humiliating’ F1 return
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 1 h
“I was getting beat up” – How Daniel Ricciardo burned out on ‘humiliating’ F1 return
Myers Riley Motorsports adds Andretti alongside returning Fraga for 2027 IMSA GTD campaign
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 1 h
Myers Riley Motorsports adds Andretti alongside returning Fraga for 2027 IMSA GTD campaign
Las Vegas GP reveals neon sign-inspired trophy design
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Las Vegas GP
2 h
Las Vegas GP reveals neon sign-inspired trophy design
Feature
Discover prime content
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Formula 1
By Kevin Turner
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe