Why Valtteri Bottas' Australian GP grid penalty has been abolished

Valtteri Bottas will no longer carry out a grid penalty at this weekend's Australian Grand Prix following a regulation change by the FIA.

Bottas will make his F1 comeback in Melbourne with Cadillac, as the American squad embarks on its F1 debut as the sport's newest team.

It was heavily expected that Bottas would be on the back foot from the get-go due to a grid drop hanging over his head.

At his last race event at the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Bottas was unable to fulfil a time penalty after being involved in an on-track incident.

This then transitioned to a grid penalty, which was due to be served at the next race he took part in.

However, this will not be the case as the FIA made a change to its regulations ahead of the new season.

Article B2.5.4(b) of the sporting regulations now stipulates that any outstanding grid penalty is only valid for a 12-month period, provided it does not exceed 15 places.

The updated regulation reads: “Classified drivers who have 15 or less cumulative unserved grid penalties for the Race imposed in the previous twelve (12) months will be allocated a temporary grid position equal to their Qualifying session classification plus the sum of their unserved grid penalties.”

With Bottas being handed the grid penalty almost 15 months ago, the grid drop has been stripped from the record.