Valtteri Bottas’ flopping can have drastic consequences – the F1 expert saw an “amateur-like mistake” behind the sensational team’s penalty

Listen to the F1 episode of Urheilu’s podcast. Why are there four races in the Middle East and should we be worried about it? What does the Finnish F1 future look like? Urheilu’s expert Jukka Mildh breaks down the hottest topics of the F1 season. Also in the audience are University of Helsinki professor Hannu Juusola, who specializes in the Middle East, and Finland’s F1 hope Tuukka Taponen.

The race in Saudi Arabia became a showcase for Red Bull, just like the season opener in Bahrain. This time he won Sergio Perez before Max Verstappen.

Verstappen took second in the race from 15th on the starting grid, as the qualifying sessions on Saturday went to waste after the drive shaft broke. Valtteri Bottas was only 18th in the final results on Sunday.

Urheilu’s F1 expert Jukka Mildh go through the most interesting topics of the race weekend.

What solved it?

Max Verstappen took the lead in the race when he benefited from Aston Martin By Lance Stroll from the safety car that entered the track after the interruption.

Verstappen was able to time his pit stop perfectly and did so of George Russell as well as Fernando Alonso after its stop.

The champion favorite was five seconds behind his teammate.

Expert Mildh saw the decisive moment of the race when Perez was allowed to drive to victory with a good five laps to go.

The situation had been preceded by an interesting radio discussion, when Perez had been told to slow down. After the Mexican had told his doubts, the team allowed him to push as hard as he needed to win.

– The race culminated in Red Bull giving Perez permission to drive to the end. Even though Verstappen tried to get some kind of team order in his favor, the team made a different decision, Mildh estimated.

Mildh also saw the situation as a positive surprise for the competition weekend.

– The situation is not so tight at Red Bull that a team order would have been issued. It was a positive surprise that Perez was able to drive to victory in the race, Mildh praises.

The expert is happy about the work of the Mexican hero.

– He defies and challenges the team all the time and drives well. Above all, Perez takes care of his own rights, Mildh said.

What speaks?

As in Bahrain, Aston Martin, the biggest sensation of the early season, and the legendary driver Fernando Alonso became the biggest talking points of the race weekend.

The Spanish driver made a sharp start from the starting grid and took the lead by passing Perez. Before that, however, Alonso had messed up heavily. Alonso had placed his car on the starting grid irregularly over the boundary lines from the left side. Alonso was given a five-second time penalty for that.

Alonso came to serve his punishment as usual during his pit stop. He kept his podium finish clear and Alonso should have had nothing to worry about.

At the end of the race, however, it was reported that Aston Martin and Alonso were being investigated for a foul in the execution of the penalty. The mechanic was suspected of illegally touching the car with the rear jack before the penalty was served.

The F1 jury punished Alonso with a ten-second time penalty after the race. With Alonso’s time penalty, Mercedes’ George Russell moved past Alonso into third.

However, three hours after the end of the competition, the jury of the competition announced that they had passed out on their decision. The time penalty was cancelled. Alonso got to keep his place on the podium.

The F1 jury justified the cancellation of the penalty with the video footage provided by Aston Martin. Aston Martin had provided the competition jury with seven examples of how no penalty had been given for touching the car with the rear jack.

The jury had initially considered that touching the jack would be interpreted as working with the car. However, according to the most recent decision of the jury, there was no consensus on this, so the punishment was overturned.

Urheilu’s F1 expert Jukka Mildh had also seen the video footage of how the rear jack held by the mechanic hit the Aston Martin car before its time. He knew how to expect a big mess from the punishment, but he didn’t see the knocking of the beak in the situation. According to Mildh, the hit to the car was so clear.

– It is an amateurish mistake to touch the car too early. It’s all about team coordination, Mildh managed to emphasize.

What about Bottas?

Valtteri Bottas had a minor winning weekend. The Finnish driver lost to his Chinese teammate in qualifying For Guanyu Zhou, when Bottas reached the 14th starting grid. Zhou was 12th in qualifying, but moved up Charles Leclerc due to the starting grid penalty by one stop on the starting grid.

In the race, Bottas lost one place in the opening lap, to Alpha Tauri Yuki Tsunoda toasted by. The Finn made a quick pit stop, but then got stuck in the last place of the whole bunch. He didn’t get up from there, but came to the finish line as the last of the group in 18th place.

Overall, the race was one of the darkest in Bottas’ career. Bottas suspected after the race that the problems were due to the events of the opening lap. Bottas believed that the part that flew off the competitor’s car in the opening lap would have hit the Alfa Romeo car and caused damage.

– It could have damaged the car somewhere so that it became difficult to drive. My understanding was that Bottas had no grip on any tire compound. It refers to aerodynamics or faults in the support arms, Mildh estimates.

In the tight middle class, the problems really took a toll on Bottas’ result.

– Saudi Arabia is one of the fastest street tracks. You can see really quickly if you don’t trust the car, Mildh said.

A flop?

Mildh saw Alfa Romeo’s performance as the biggest disappointment of the race weekend. He would have hoped that Bottas could drive better results.

– The competition in Saudi Arabia was in no way flattering to Alfa Romeo. There is a lot to do in the car, Mildh stated.

According to Mildh, already at this point in the season, it can be concluded that Alfa Romeo’s car concept has not been successful. However, according to the expert, the silver lining is that other middle-class teams have had problems as well. Most of the headlines have been AlphaTauri, whose team manager Franz Tost berated his team’s mechanics, expressing his distrust of them.

Already at this stage, the problems that have appeared during the season can have big consequences for the rest of the season as well.

– Yes, this affects the progress of the season if the car does not work right at the beginning of the season and we have to make terrible changes. It really slows down development, Mildh said.

Working in public as a representative of the Alfa Romeo team Alessandro Alumni Bravi even had time to announce after the Saudi Arabian race that the team will bring new updates to their car to Australia.

What next?

The F1 series continues in two weeks in Australia. After two races, many F1 followers are already ready to put their gloves on the counter in the championship fight.

Red Bull has been so superior in the competition, as for example Max Verstappen’s rise from 15th on the starting grid to second in Saudi Arabia showed. Although such a rise is rare, according to Mildh, it did not come as a surprise to anyone in the F1 pit.

Mildh’s assessment is not very comforting when it comes to challenging Red Bull.

– It seems that there is no stopping Red Bull. I still don’t believe in Aston Martin in the long term. It’s hard to imagine anyone catching that head start. Red Bull can develop its car exactly according to its plan, says Mildh.