Valtteri Bottas will be out of a full-time Formula One seat by season’s end, but he’s not ruling out a return quite yet.
The Finnish driver, 35, confirmed Thursday that he is talking with Mercedes about a reserve driver role but said, “there’s still a bit of work to do” to complete the move. The Silver Arrows announced earlier in the day that Mick Schumacher would leave at the end of the season. Bottas raced for the team for five years, competing alongside Lewis Hamilton. All ten of his F1 victories came with Mercedes.
“(The) priority for me (is) still Formula One. I feel like I’m not done yet with this sport,” Bottas said Thursday. “So, to be around, to be able to hopefully do some testing, et cetera, I think it gives me a chance for ‘26 because, in this sport, you just never know what happens. There is also a new team joining, which means two more seats. So, it obviously increases the opportunities for 2026.”
That new team joining is General Motors under the Cadillac brand. The F1 grid will expand to 11 teams in 2026, offering up two more seats to drivers. At this time, it is “an agreement in principle” between F1 and GM. Bottas confirmed that he has spoken with Cadillac and called it “an interesting project.” But he added, “For sure, I’m not the only one.”
Focusing on 2025, Mercedes is not the only team entertaining the idea of bringing Bottas on. The Finn said he’s had “talks and approaches” from different IndyCar teams, but “at this point, I made it pretty clear that next year comes a bit too quick.” He’s made the “conscious decision” not to race full-time next season in any series but is open to one-off opportunities.
“I think it just comes too quick. Let’s say, for example, jumping into a full IndyCar season, after 12 years of F1, I just feel like it comes a bit too quick, you know, because it’s a lot of hard work and a lot of familiarization to be done, and all these things. So, I try to take just a bit of time, figure out what’s next, and go from there.”
After F1 wraps up in Abu Dhabi next weekend, Bottas’ next big race will be the Race of Champions in early March before F1’s Australian Grand Prix, and both Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel will be competing in the event as well.
The Finn also has his eye on the Indy 500 one day, saying, “First of all, it depends if I’m going to be around here at every grand prix or not. If yes, then obviously, the options are (more) limited. But, Indy 500 has been always on the list. I’ve been always a fan of V8’s supercars, this kind of thing. So, at the moment, I’m still pretty open, and first, I need to decide, actually, what’s the next move, and then can we see.”
He hasn’t spoken to any teams about just running the Indy 500 as “I need to fix what is the actual day job for 2025,” but Bottas did receive “a solid offer for ‘25.”
His goal, though, is to stay within the F1 world for now.
Top photo of Valtteri Bottas at the Qatar GP: Mark Thompson/Getty Images
