Valtteri Bottas: Cadillac is ‘very interesting project’

F1: Beyond The Grid

karenellenbevan

Leisure, Sports, Technology, Automotive

4.8 • 5.2K Ratings

🗓️ 3 June 2025

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This year is the first time Valtteri Bottas isn’t racing in Formula 1 since he started as a rookie in 2013, but the 10-time Grand Prix winner says F1 is ‘still the number one thing in my life’ and his priority is to get back on the grid in 2026.

Speaking to Tom Clarkson, Valtteri discusses all the options he has for his next move.

Would he like to drive for the new Cadillac team that will join F1 next season? Could he race for Mercedes again? Or will there be opportunities at other teams like Red Bull or Alpine?

Valtteri tells Tom why he doesn’t want his F1 career to be over yet, what attributes he would bring to a team in a year of new regulations and cars, and the deadline he has put in place to make a decision on his future.

He also explains why he rejoined Mercedes as a Reserve Driver this year instead of competing in any other series.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Valtrey Bottas has unfinished business in Formula One.
0:07.0	I'm sitting here now without a race seat not because of my own choice and I'm not done yet with Formula One.
0:14.0	I still have more to give. It's still number one thing in my life.
0:17.0	I just feel like the way, especially the last two years went for me in my career, it's
0:22.2	definitely not the way I want things to finish. You know, end of last year, some qualifying,
0:26.2	some races, I felt like I was performing at my best ever. So I haven't felt any degradation in myself
0:32.3	yet. We humans, we have dick, but I don't have yet.
0:37.5	Baltrey's clearly ready to go racing again, so here, on F1 Beyond the Grid with me, Tom
0:43.4	Clarkson, the 10-time Grand Prix winner discusses the various options he has for 2026.
0:49.6	Would he like to drive for the new Cadillac team that will join the grid next year?
0:53.8	Is there any chance he could
0:54.9	race for Mercedes again? Are Red Bull or Alpine potential destinations? Valtrey tells me what
1:00.9	strengths he would bring to those teams and the deadline he's put in place to make a decision on
1:06.0	his next move. Given that he never wanted to stop racing, I also asked Valtrey how much he's missing it
1:12.8	and why he rejoined Mercedes as reserve driver this year instead of competing in another series.
1:19.9	And whether he'd like to try out IndyCar or endurance racing later in his career. He's really
1:26.1	open, very engaging and exceptionally funny. I hope you
1:31.1	enjoy what he has to say. Faltrey, how are you? Great to have you on the show again.
1:41.1	Thank you. I'm doing good. Nice to continue our traditions with our annual Beyond the
1:45.8	Grid podcast. Now the mullet, I have to say, is looking particularly good at the moment. Has it changed
1:51.6	colour? It hasn't changed colour since last year. Once it got bleached by the Australian summer,
1:57.6	the other year, it stayed like this magically. Do you know what's quite weird is that the hair is as bleached as it is, the moustache is not,
	...

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