Watch the scary moment F1 stars continued driving as Valtteri Bottas stood at the side of the track after a mechanical failure… as fans spot the hilarious moment he’s taken away on the back of the motorcycle
- Valtteri Bottas’ mechanical failure in Turn 11 sent him to the side of the track
- His fellow F1 drivers continued to race while he was repairing his steering wheel
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Formula 1 fans are baffled by a viral clip showing Valtteri Bottas’ mechanical failure at Turn 11.
This comes as Max Verstappen scored another dominant victory in Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix.
He emerged unscathed from two safety car periods to take his 38th win from the last 49 in Formula 1, on his unstoppable march to a fourth consecutive championship.
However, a moment during Sunday’s Grand Prix turned heads as fans couldn’t believe a clip of Bottas that went viral.
The Sauber driver stopped at Turn 11 before removing his steering wheel as his fellow racers entered the track behind him.
Formula 1 fans are baffled by a viral clip showing Valtteri Bottas’ mechanical failure at Turn 11
His fellow racers continued to ride despite being sidelined before the VSC was finally released
Bottas was forced to retire due to an engine failure, but initially his stricken car was covered with a double yellow flag, with cars racing down the straight to the corner where his car took off.
The VSC was then brought out and when the marshals struggled to move Bottas’ stricken car, it was upgraded to a full safety car.
Bottas drove to the corner and stopped with smoke coming from the back of the car.
“The engine is gone, the engine is gone,” he told his team.
The F1 star got out of his car and started removing his steering wheel as his fellow F1 drivers passed him by.
He was then driven away on the back of a motorcycle.
On social media, fans couldn’t believe what they were seeing.
“It’s a bit scary that Bottas has to constantly look back when he removes his steering wheel in case someone blocks and shouts him off the track,” one person wrote.
Another asked: ‘What is this?
‘Why did we introduce Virtual Safety Car after the death of Jules Bianchi, FIA?
“Bottas literally looks at racing cars while putting the wheel back as required by the rules…”
Another onlooker branded the incident a ‘disgrace’.
He said: ‘It was a shame to have the cars racing last Bottas when he was standing at the side of the track and no VSC had been called for a lap.’
A final F1 fan questioned the decision: ‘Bottas is literally standing out of his car…’
‘FIA: Yes, a yellow flag is sufficient
‘Why does it take so long?????’
With Bottas forced to ride on the back of a motorcycle, more fans discovered the funny side.
When posting the photo, someone said, “This is so funny to me for no reason!”
While another joked: ‘I laughed so hard when I saw him.’
“Cool to see Mercedes using bottas to test their 2025 car,” said another fan