EXCLUSIVE: Valtteri Bottas speaks to The Categorical about his new crew’s mission.
Valtteri Bottas is beginning a brand new chapter of his F1 profession with Cadillac (Picture: Getty)
Valtteri Bottas insists newcomers Cadillac will rip up the unwritten rule for all Components 1 drivers this yr. Given automobile efficiency is such a big think about outcomes, the primary rule for any racer hoping to maintain their seat is to beat their team-mate – the one individual towards whom they’ll actually be assessed.
Bottas is paired with fellow F1 veteran Sergio Perez for 2026, each thrown a lifeline by Cadillac after a yr off the grid. However the flying Finn, 36, is adamant they would be the solely drivers on the grid who aren’t out to get one over one another. “One massive motive the crew selected us – they know that we will work collectively,” Bottas instructed Categorical Sport.
“They know that we will put the crew first, that we’re not losing vitality and specializing in one another. We have to put all our vitality into the crew. That is essential, particularly within the first steps of a brand new crew. So I feel that fully is sensible for me by way of the motive force pairing.”
Each confirmed final summer time, Perez was capable of begin working together with his new colleagues right away, whereas Bottas had Mercedes duties to fulfil as their reserve driver. Perez examined an outdated Ferrari final yr after which Cadillac’s first automobile earlier this month, earlier than Bottas lastly received the prospect to get out on observe at this week’s Barcelona shakedown.
Having initially anxious that his F1 profession might need been over, after he was instructed by Sauber that he wouldn’t be retained past the 2024 season, Bottas says he was all the time assured he would get again on the grid. He mentioned: “For a brief second, there was in fact this doubt. However then, fairly rapidly, I used to be dedicated to, ‘I am not completed but and I will discover a solution to get again’. And that is what occurred ultimately, so it is fairly cool.”
Bottas attended all 24 races in 2025, all the time on name in case Mercedes wanted to name upon him. They did not, George Russell and Kimi Antonelli match for each spherical, but it surely was not wasted effort for the 10-time Grand Prix winner who sees the expertise as invaluable.
Bottas will companion fellow F1 veteran Sergio Perez this season (Picture: Getty)
He defined: “I’ve now correctly seen how the crew truly operates in all areas, what all of the folks do right here. I’ve far more capability to simply go searching, as a substitute of simply trying on the knowledge and driving the automobile. I’ve discovered loads about how the crew is definitely run.
“I feel it might probably assist me sooner or later. My scope is way wider, I’d say 95 % wider than what I used to have. I feel that is going to assist me, case by case. I feel it has made me a extra full driver as properly, having that sort of data.”
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New laws for the 2026 season make it tough to foretell what the subsequent 11 months holds for any crew, not to mention Cadillac who’ve began from scratch. Final summer time, crew principal Graeme Lowdown mentioned another outfit might be “apoplectic” if they’re crushed by the newcomers this yr.
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For Bottas, the one expectation is to be on the grid on the first race in early March – after which to develop in a optimistic route.
He mentioned: “It ought to be on the grid in Melbourne. That is the 1st step! It is so onerous to set sure objectives for outcomes for the start of the yr. It is so onerous to place it on paper as a result of there’s so many variables with the brand new regs and we have to be practical.
“It is not going to be about the place we begin, it is the place we get to and the way rapidly. It’ll be onerous work initially. [The rate of development] is the principle factor. We simply must have a dependable automobile for the primary half after which go from there.”
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