Valtteri Bottas to start at back of Abu Dhabi GP grid for Mercedes

Engline penalties send Mercedes driver to the back for F1's finale

Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas will start Sunday's season-ending Abu Dhabi GP from the back of the grid after collecting rare engine penalties for F1's world champions.

The Finn suffered Mercedes' only mechanical-related retirement of the season at the last race in Brazil and that has resulted in the team installing a fresh power unit for the season finale.

The changes take Bottas over the allowed engine limit for the season.

His back-row start will be the first time a Mercedes driver has started a race from outside the top six all year.

Bottas, a four-time race winner in 2019, is already guaranteed to finish second to team-mate Lewis Hamilton in this year's Drivers' Championship - the 30-year-old's best-career finish.

Advertisement

More to follow...

Also See:

The last race of the 2019 F1 season takes place in Abu Dhabi this weekend, and will be exclusively live on Sky Sports F1.

Outbrain