F1 star 'got lucky' after losing brake pedal at Barcelona Grand Prix

Russell in plain clothes walking through F1 paddock with Bottas in Mercedes hat — Photo: © IMAGO

Barcelona Grand Prix

F1 star 'got lucky' after losing brake pedal at Barcelona Grand Prix

There was a bizarre incident for Cadillac in Barcelona

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Sunday 14 June 2026 09:55

Cadillac F1 star Valtteri Bottas suffered a bizarre incident at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, and admitted that he was 'lucky' to avoid a bigger incident.

Bottas was ruled out of the final practice session on Saturday after his car appeared to go straight off into the gravel.

Replays seemed to show him slowing down before failing to make the turn, in what looked at first to be an electrical issue.

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However, Bottas confirmed that it was actually a brake issue, with the Finnish driver losing control of his car but thankfully noticing halfway down a long straight, allowing him to gradually slow the car using downshifts before he reached the corner.

"I lost my brake pedals," Bottas revealed on team radio after stopping in the gravel. "It's gone, the pedal is gone. I got very lucky there."

The incident caused a red flag and a brief pause to the session, but Bottas was very grateful that it wasn't anything more, and that the car didn't suffer any damage other than the initial brake issue that caused him to go off in the first place.

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Sky Sports F1 pundit Karun Chandhok then suggested that the issue could be a worry for the team for the rest of the weekend, including on Sergio Perez's car.

He even hinted that the FIA might look into the incident for safety concerns.

"He started to go down the gears down the straight to slow the car down, but it wasn't working," Chandhok said during FP3.

"That is worrying. The FIA will want to have a look at that, and Perez's car as well.

"If it's a mechanical part that has failed on that car the team will 100 per cent need to look at Perez's car to make sure that car is safe."

F1 Cadillac Valtteri Bottas Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya Barcelona-Catalunya Grand prix