Bottas Set for Back-of-Grid Start in Mexico After Power Unit Changes

Valtteri Bottas will start Sunday's Mexico City Grand Prix from the back of the grid after Cadillac changed a raft of power unit elements on his car ahead of the weekend. The team fitted a new internal combustion engine, turbocharger, energy store, control electronics and motor generator unit-kinetic, with each element a first-time breach of the season's allocation. Under the regulations, penalties beyond 15 grid places send a driver to the back of the field regardless of the cumulative total, and Bottas is in line for a drop of 50 places, subject to being classified in qualifying. The setback caps a disrupted build-up for the Finn, who missed Thursday's media duties through illness, while team-mate and home hero Sergio Perez also arrived late to the track on Friday feeling unwell. American Colton Herta drove Bottas' Cadillac in Friday's opening practice as part of the young-driver requirement. Bottas now faces a long afternoon of damage limitation at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, where overtaking is possible but track position at high altitude is notoriously hard to recover.