F1 driver set for immediate grid penalty after signing for new team

One fan-favourite Formula One driver is set to be hit with a grid penalty as soon as he agrees terms to join a new team next season.

After a four-week summer break, F1 returns next weekend for the Dutch Grand Prix at the iconic Circuit Zandvoort.

With just 10 races left in the season, many fans have already started to look ahead to the 2026 season, which is expected to be one of the most exciting in recent years.

Brand new regulations are expected to cause major shifts in the championship while Cadillac will enter the sport as F1's 11th team, adding another two drivers to the grid.

Several drivers are also expected to change teams ahead of the 2026 season, but one of them will instantly be made to serve a brutal gird penalty once he drivers for his new team for the first time.

F1 will return for the Dutch Grand Prix next weekend. (Image: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Despite rumours linking Max Verstappen with a move to Mercedes in 2026, it now appears that the Dutchman will remain at Red Bull next season, with several of the other top drivers also staying put for now.

However, with Cadillac joining the gird, several notable drivers not competing in the 2025 season will be given the opportunity to return to the track next year, with Valterri Bottas believed to be the American team's top target.

Since news linking Bottas with one of the two Cadillac seats first emerged, things have progressed steadily and it now appears that he will be announced as their first driver in the coming weeks.

But when he lines up for his Cadillac debut at the Australian Grand Prix on the weekend of March 6-8, the Finnish driver will have to serve a five-place grid penalty handed to him in his final race for previous team Kick Sauber last year.

During the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Bottas was deemed to have breached the International Sporting Code after he collided with Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, leading to him being handed a five-place grid penalty for his next race.

Valterri Bottas has been strongly linked with Cadillac. (Image: Andrea Diodato/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Despite the new Sporting Regulations for 2026 introducing a 12-month timer on all penalties, Bottas will be made to serve this penalty at the Australian Grand Prix, should he sign for Cadillac.

“Currently, the penalty will stand, as there is no mechanism to retroactively amend the penalty that was applied under the regulations in force at the time,” an FIA spokesperson told PlanetF1.

“The change of regulation is intended to avoid similar anomalous situations in the future.”