F1 star puts out fire after brakes turn to flames

Valtteri Bottas had to take matters into his own hands when his car burst into flames during the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The veteran Cadillac driver retired on Sunday due to brake issues and ended up grabbing a fire extinguisher himself after parking his car.

The American team has been struggling with reliability issues related to its brakes, and both of their cars retired at the Hungaroring.

While team-mate Sergio Perez was forced to quit due to suspension damage, Bottas once again experienced overheating brakes.

Despite adding extra brake cooling to the MAC-26 ahead of the Budapest race weekend, the modifications proved to be insufficient.

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Bottas tackles fire

When Bottas pulled into the pit lane, there were no marshals around to tackle the blaze. "I got out of the car and saw the flames, but there was nobody there," he recalled during an interview with Viaplay.

"Luckily, I spotted a fire extinguisher nearby. I figured, why not lend a hand?" Bottas later said he could laugh about the incident.

This isn’t the first time the Cadillac’s brakes have caused a dangerous situation this season. In the Austrian Grand Prix, both Bottas and Perez had to retire early when their brakes caught fire.

Bottas looks ahead to Dutch GP

Despite the disappointment in Hungary and the underwhelming brake cooling efforts, Bottas remains cautiously optimistic about the next race.

After the summer break, the F1 circus heads to Zandvoort for the Dutch Grand Prix.

“We had more brake cooling this weekend, but it clearly wasn’t enough for these conditions and on this circuit,” he reflected on the recent race.

“I believe we should be in a better position at Zandvoort, although it’s evident that we’ll need even more cooling moving forward.”

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