Bottas wants 'nasty' barriers changed after Mexico crash

Valtteri Bottas called for a change to the "nasty" placement of barriers at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez after a hefty shunt in qualifying for the Mexican Grand Prix.

Bottas lost control of his car in the last sector of his second flying lap and got stuck in the barrier, before thudding into a tyre wall that jutted out at the start of the pit-straight.

The Finn revealed he suffered knee pain as a result and the impact left him breathless over team radio as Mercedes checked on his condition.

The incident had further ramifications as Max Verstappen ignored the yellow flags thrown as a result of Bottas' crash as was stripped of pole position, but the Silver Arrows driver hopes a change of layout will be considered by the stewards.

Bottas said: "I was following along the wall, and obviously at the end there was the TecPro barrier, which was a bit nasty actually, how it was at the end.

"The initial hit, I hit my knees together. I think it like was a nerve thing, so the first five minutes I did feel my right knee a little bit, but now it's normal, so it's OK.

"The last hit into the TecPro it just took my breath out a bit – I noticed I forgot the radio was on.

"Definitely, we should try and avoid those kind of TecPro things. It's a good thing, but how it starts – maybe it should start earlier or much later – but it's not ideal.

"It would have been all fine, and no pain at all if we had continued along the wall like it was. For sure we'll bring it up [with the FIA]."

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