‘Nice seat’ – Valtteri Bottas comeback rumours in overdrive after Cadillac F1 post
Valtteri Bottas spent the 2025 season in a Mercedes reserve role
Rumours that Valtteri Bottas could make a sensational Formula 1 comeback with Cadillac in F1 2026 are in overdrive after a social media post by the Mercedes reserve driver.
Bottas rejoined the Mercedes team in a reserve role for F1 2025 after losing his Sauber race seat at the end of last season.
Valtteri Bottas to make F1 2026 comeback with Cadillac F1 team?
As reported by PlanetF1.com, it emerged over the winter that Bottas had physically signed a contract to remain with Sauber for this season ahead of the team’s Audi F1 transition for F1 2026 before the Swiss-based team opted to sign newly crowned F2 champion Gabriel Bortoleto instead.
With no other options to stay on the grid at that late stage, Bottas was left with no option but to rejoin Mercedes – the team with which he collected all 10 of his F1 career victories – as a reserve driver for this season.
Bottas has been open about his ambitions of reclaiming a race seat for F1 2026 with the new Cadillac team, which will arrive as the 11th team on the grid next season, representing one of his best hopes of a comeback.
Will Valtteri Bottas return to an F1 race seat with Cadillac?
? F1 driver contracts: What is the contract status of every driver on the F1 2025 grid?
? F1 2026 driver line-up: Who is already confirmed for the 2026 grid?
And Bottas has hinted that he could return with the American team by posting a video tease to social media.
In the clip, Bottas is seen examining a Cadillac road car with an accomplice, with the 35-year-old opening the door before rubbing his hands on the driver’s seat.
Bottas is heard saying: “Oh wow, that’s actually a nice seat. I wouldn’t mind.”
Put to him that there are two seats at the front of the Cadillac, he replies: “And they are both free?”
Asked at that stage if he wants to sit in the driver’s seat, Bottas replies: “Hmm. Not yet.”
The clip, uploaded on Monday morning, has received more than 123,000 ‘likes’ on Instagram at the time of writing.
Bottas’s social media post comes after Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team boss, backed the Finnish driver to achieve success in IndyCar or the World Endurance Championship if his F1 comeback hopes do not come to fruition.
Wolff said: “He has the ambition and the talent to come back into Formula 1.
“And if that doesn’t fly, he’s gonna make a career in Le Mans or in IndyCar or whatever, because he’s so good.”
Cadillac has been open about its driver ambitions since its F1 2026 entry was confirmed in March, voicing its willingness to pair an experienced F1 head with an up-and-coming American driver.
However, with no outstanding US candidate emerging, it is plausible that the team could yet opt for two experienced drivers for its first season.
Bottas’s former Sauber team-mate Guanyu Zhou has been frequently mentioned as a potential contender to race for Cadillac.
The Chinese driver, who brings significant sponsorship, is known to have a close relationship with Cadillac F1 team principal Graeme Lowdon, with the 26-year-old currently serving as Ferrari’s reserve driver.
Cadillac will compete with Ferrari customer engines and gearboxes until at least the end of the 2028 season having agreed a technical partnership with the Italian team last December.
Meanwhile, a report in April claimed that Cadillac was in advanced talks with Sergio Perez, the former McLaren and Red Bull driver, over a deal for F1 2026.
Perez’s appearance at May’s Miami Grand Prix, where Cadillac held a team-launch event, sparked rumours that an announcement was imminent.
However, PlanetF1.com learned from sources close to the situation that no decisions had been taken at such an early stage of the driver market.
Read next: Christian Horner: F1’s pantomime villain reveals how the ‘Piranha Club’ has evolved
