Fuel sample breach leaves driver disqualified from British Grand Prix qualifying

Valtteri Bottas has been axed from the British Grand Prix qualifying results after failing to provide a fuel sample.

F1 2023 has been a season of few thrills so far for Bottas and his Alfa Romeo team, and securing P15 on the grid for the British Grand Prix likely fell below the heights Bottas would have been hoping for.

Worse was to come though for Bottas who now drops to the very back of the pack for Sunday’s race, with the stewards having confirmed after qualifying that the mandatory one litre sample of fuel that each driver is required to have available for the FIA after the session could not be taken.

The standard punishment for that transgression then is expulsion from the qualifying results, and that is the fate which Bottas met. He has, at least, been given permission by the stewards to start the race.

“The stewards heard from the team representative of Car 77 (Valtteri Bottas),” their report began.

“The car was unable to provide the required fuel sample. There were no mitigating circumstances.

“The stewards have received a request from Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake to allow Car 77 to start the race. The stewards therefore grant permission for Car 77, Valtteri Bottas to start the race.”

Elsewhere, the stewards handed AlphaTauri a €5,000 fine for an unsafe release as Nyck de Vries was sent into the path of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri during qualifying.