Valtteri Bottas walked away from a dramatic crash at the Mexico City Grand Prix after the front-left corner of his Cadillac buckled.

Bottas suffered the failure as he applied the brakes into turn one – one of the fastest parts of the circuit.

He hit the barriers so hard that they were damaged, triggering a red flag for repairs. After climbing out of the cockpit, he went to the medical centre for checks – as is mandatory when a certain G-force threshold is exceeded.

Cadillac confirmed in a statement that Bottas had been released following a ‘precautionary assessment’, though he was excused from his post-race media duties. They vowed to ‘investigate the on-track incident fully’.

Valtteri Bottas in no mood to communicate with Cadillac engineer after Mexico shunt

Bottas’ overriding emotion after the crash was frustration, as this unbroadcast exchange with Cadillac engineer John Howard demonstrates.

Howard: “All okay?”

Bottas: “Oh, f—! For f— sake!”

Howard: “Are you okay, mate?”

Bottas: “No! F—!”

Howard: “Okay, switch off.”

Bottas’ injuries were limited to a bruised knee, according to Crash, which means his participation in this weekend’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix shouldn’t be in doubt.

The former Mercedes driver has now failed to finish 10 of the 19 Grands Prix he has started this season, as well as two Sprints. Only Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll (13) has suffered more DNFs.

Cadillac have been blighted by fundamental failures in their first F1 season, though Bottas has been a bigger victim than teammate Sergio Perez (five DNFs).

Sunday’s crash comes with Bottas fighting for his future as Cadillac consider promoting reserve driver Colton Herta or signing an external replacement.

The team have made clear that they haven’t been satisfied with Bottas’ pace in some recent races. He has outqualified Perez nine times this year but struggled relative to the Mexican on a Sunday.

Bottas has expressed confidence about his future but it remains one of the only unresolved issues in the final knockings of F1’s low-key silly season.

His contract covers multiple seasons, though the exact structure of the agreement is unknown.