Valtteri Bottas joins Kimi Antonelli in missing Mexico media duties through illness

The Finn joins Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli in having his preparations disrupted by illness in Mexico. Antonelli has also been under the weather and is missing the FIA press conference, leaving both drivers absent from scheduled media commitments ahead of the weekend.

Cadillac has stressed that Bottas’ illness does not currently affect his participation in the remaining sessions. The decision to give him time away from media duties is intended to support his recovery rather than signal any change to his racing plans.

In a statement, Cadillac said:

The announcement offers reassurance about Bottas’ immediate prospects, although Cadillac has left open the possibility of further updates should his condition change. The team has not specified the nature of his illness, and there is no basis to link it to Antonelli’s condition.

For Bottas, who is fighting for this F1 future, the immediate priority is recovery before returning to his driving commitments. Missing media day gives him a break from scheduled appearances while Cadillac assesses whether any further adjustments are required.

Importantly, the statement stops short of guaranteeing that his condition will remain unchanged. Instead, Cadillac’s position is that his participation beyond media day is currently unaffected, with monitoring continuing throughout his recovery.

Antonelli’s absence provides a parallel storyline, but the two cases should be treated separately. Neither the information supplied about the Mercedes driver nor Cadillac’s statement establishes a shared cause for their illnesses.

Attention will now turn to any further communication from Cadillac and Bottas’ return to the track. For the moment, the team’s message is clear: this is a day of rest taken as a precaution, not an announcement that the Finn will miss competitive running in Mexico. His availability for the rest of the weekend remains unchanged under the team’s current assessment.