Bottas’s penalty was delivered before the change to the rules was ratified, meaning he appeared set to face the drop regardless.

As recently as pre-season testing in Bahrain, Bottas had been resigned to serving it in Melbourne, but then came a last-minute twist.

Among the latest sporting regulations are changes to article B2.5.4 that do make this change retrospective.

As Bottas’s penalty was issued before the 12-month time limit, he will not have to serve that previously imposed penalty.

Bottas, characteristically, announced the news on his own terms.

“You don’t follow me on Instagram?” he quipped when the subject was raised in the Australian GP press conference. “I just did an announcement 20 minutes ago. Apparently it’s vanished – thanks to some new regulation.”

A new perspective

The 36-year-old spent the 2025 season as a reserve driver at Mercedes, watching grands prix from the pitwall after losing his drive at Sauber at the end of 2024.

The Finn eventually secured a return to the grid with F1’s new team, Cadillac, to lead the American squad’s programme alongside Sergio Perez.

While 2025 was a humbling year for a driver with over a decade of F1 experience and 10 race victories, Bottas insists his time away didn’t left him rusty and, in fact, had quite the opposite effect.

“I haven’t actually [felt rusty],” he said in Melbourne. “Got plenty of testing, much more testing than normally you get before the season, and I think those few test days I had last year helped keep a bit of a feeling.”

He added: “I never expected to be actually kind of happy to be in a press conference after one year off. It’s not bad. You have a different perspective now.”

That perspective, Bottas said, extends to everything about a championship he now views through fresh eyes.

“Having one year of not racing, you definitely appreciate everything about this sport more, and being on the grid is a different feeling,” he said. ” So yeah, like I said, even the press conference doesn’t feel that bad today, but ask me in Abu Dhabi.

“But yeah, I definitely have a better perspective of the sport and will appreciate it much more than I did two years ago, so hopefully that will help me.”

Cadillac is the first brand-new constructor to enter Formula 1 since Haas in 2016.

Bottas has been there from the very beginning, helping to build the operation from scratch alongside team-mate Perez.

The American car struggled for pace during pre-season testing in Bahrain, and Bottas has been candid about the scale of the task.

“It’s quite unique to be in a situation where you’re starting with a new team in the sport,” he acknowledged.

“It’s been hard work, lots of problem-solving. But we’ve already made great progress, and hats off to the whole team being here ready for race one – which I think already is incredible.

“So, looking forward to this journey. It’s only the start of it now.”