VALTTERI BOTTAS’ misery is set to continue after he was slapped with a three-place grid penalty for this weekend’s Austrian GP for spinning in the pit lane.
The under-fire Finn, who is set to lose his seat at Mercedes to George Russell next season, lost control during practice when he drove out of the team’s garage.
He has also been given two penalty points on his racing licence after telling the stewards he lost control after pulling away in second gear.
Bottas earlier said: “I would be surprised if there is (a penalty).
“It’s a normal mistake, it happens, but yes, I’m sure they’ll understand what happened.
“I spun. We tried something different getting out from the box and yes, there were some variables to what we normally do with the wheelspin and that’s why I spun.”
Max Verstappen topped both practice sessions at the Red Bull Ring while Lewis Hamilton saw his quicker time in FP2 deleted for exceeding track limits.
Meanwhile, the Turkish Grand Prix will return to the F1 calendar in October in place of the cancelled race in Singapore.
Local authorities scrapped the Singapore GP due to the covid 19 pandemic and F1 chiefs have plugged the gap in the schedule with a race at the Intercity Istanbul Park.
Earlier this season, the Turkish GP was removed from the calendar due to international travel restrictions.
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However, it will now return between October 1st and 3rd before the Japanese GP and in the middle of another triple-header.
Stefano Domenicali, President and CEO of Formula One, said: “We are delighted to be coming back to Turkey to Intercity Istanbul Park circuit.
“We hope to see another fantastic race again in one of the best tracks in the world.
“We have had very good conversations with all the other promoters since the start of the year and continue to work closely with them during this period.”
“We have had very good conversations with all the other promoters since the start of the year and continue to work closely with them during this period.”
