Damon Hill has branded it “ridiculous” that Valtteri Bottas will start his Cadillac career with a grid drop at Melbourne, despite the incident that triggered the punishment taking place more than a year earlier.

Bottas, who returns to full-time racing in 2026 with the new Cadillac F1 Team, was handed a five-place grid penalty at the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix following a collision with Kevin Magnussen while driving for Sauber. Because he did not compete in the 2025 season, the sanction was never served. As a result, Bottas is set to take the penalty at the opening round of the 2026 season, the Australian Grand Prix.

Hill reacted strongly on social media. Posting on Instagram Stories, the former Williams driver summed up his view in two words: “How ridiculous.”

The situation comes despite a regulatory tweak by the FIA ahead of the 2026 season. Under the updated Sporting Regulations, penalties that are not served within 12 months will now be wiped from a driver’s record. However, Bottas’s sanction predates the rule change, meaning it cannot be applied retroactively.

An FIA spokesperson previously explained that there is no mechanism to erase Bottas’s penalty under the old rules, adding that the change was introduced specifically to prevent similar cases in the future.

Bottas, who spent 2025 as a reserve driver at Mercedes, returns to the grid alongside Sergio Perez, with the Mexican having already completed Cadillac’s first on-track running during a shakedown at Silverstone.

The Finn’s enforced grid drop will be particularly frustrating given his strong history in Melbourne. Bottas famously won the Australian Grand Prix in 2019, dominating the race at Albert Park Circuit.