Valtteri Bottas pokes fun at Cadillac F1 rumours in new video

Mercedes reserve driver Valtteri Bottas has poked fun at the rumours linking him to a Formula 1 seat with Cadillac in 2026. 

The American outfit will be joining the sport as the regulations change in 2026. With the two seats still up for grabs, Bottas is among several former F1 drivers such as Sergio Perez and Mick Schumacher, who are each rumoured to be in talks with the team. Taking to Instagram to poke fun at the speculation, the Finnish driver was filmed walking up to a Cadillac SUV and inspecting the ‘two free seats.’

“Oh wow, that’s actually a nice seat,” the former Sauber F1 driver said as he stroked the leather. “It’s a great seat,” cameraman Paul Ripke continued. Bottas agreed: “I wouldn’t mind.”

Ripke then pointed out the fact that there are “two seats”. Bottas jokingly quiped, “And they’re both free?” After confirming, he’s asked if he would like to sit in it. “Not yet,” Bottas said, smiling.

After failing to secure an extended contract with the Sauber F1 team for 2025, Bottas returned to his old squad, Mercedes, as a reserve driver. Despite taking a step back from a full-time seat, the driver has insisted that he’s “not done yet with F1.”

“I’m sitting here now without a race seat, not because of my own choice,” Bottas said on the Beyond The Grid podcast at the beginning of the month. “I definitely still feel – and that emotion was quite quick after I knew I wouldn’t get a seat for this year – that I’m not done yet with F1.

“I still have more to give. It’s still [the] number one thing in my life. That sensation, now that I’ve been watching aside, has got stronger and stronger and stronger, and now I really start to miss racing.

Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images via Getty Images

“I just feel like the way especially the last two years went for me in my career, it’s definitely not the way I want things to finish. End of last year – some qualifying, some races – I felt like I was performing at my best ever.

“I haven’t felt any degradation in myself yet. That’s why I just want to keep going. We humans, we have deg’, but I don’t have it yet!”

Speaking more seriously about the opportunity at the Cadillac, Bottas previously confirmed that he found the project “very interesting.”

“I don’t think they’re in a massive rush,” Bottas said. “They’ve been very, very busy on trying to get a car on the grid for next year.

“I know my timeline, when I want to know about next year and what plans do I need to make, which I think, August, more or less, is a pretty good target for that. But hopefully we’ll hear something more soon.

“I think they have a few drivers on the list. I would imagine my experience will help because now I’ve raced in three different teams, with one of the teams [that] had mega success. With Williams as well, [we] had some great results, so I hope I’m in a good position.

“For me, I actually see a very interesting project, something new to F1, an American team with maybe a different view to the sport. If I would be there as a driver, it would be actually very interesting because you can start from scratch.

“The team starts from zero. You could actually make a big influence on certain things, which direction to go, and that would be very motivating and rewarding when the success comes.

“I think the rule change is always a good point to jump in because you just never know, if you suddenly get it right you might actually be doing really well from the get-go.”