Valtteri Bottas completes landmark Mercedes run ahead of Cadillac F1 move
Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes W13) prepares to take to the track for a show run in South Korea
Mercedes reserve driver Valtteri Bottas completed a show run in South Korea on Sunday as F1 returned to the nation for the first time in 12 years.
The event saw Bottas take to the wheel of the infamous zero-pod Mercedes W13, having missed out on the chance to drive the car in competition in 2022.
Valtteri Bottas drives zero-pod Mercedes W13 as F1 returns to South Korea
The Korean Grand Prix was held in Yeongam between 2010 and 2013 with Sebastian Vettel, then of Red Bull, winning all but one edition of the race.
The race fell off the calendar in 2014 with attempts to revive the Korean Grand Prix in the years since failing to come to fruition.
Mercedes was at the AMG Speedway in Yongin, Gyeonggi-do, for the Peaches Run Universe 2025 event on Sunday, marking the first time an F1 car has ran in South Korea since 2013.
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Bottas, the team’s reserve driver, wowed the 25,000-strong crowd with several laps around the 4.5-kilometre circuit before performing a series of donuts.
Fans were also able to try simulators and get up close and personal with pieces of F1 memorabilia including helmets and race suits.
In a statement issued to PlanetF1.com by Mercedes, Bottas said: “It has been brilliant to bring F1 back to South Korea for the first time in 12 years.
“I remember the passion of the fans from when I raced here back in 2013 but if anything, that fandom has grown since then.
“The fans were knowledgeable and enthusiastic, and it was such an honour to have so many people here to enjoy the day.”
Bottas’s outing saw him get the chance to drive the Mercedes W13, raced by the team during the 2022 season.
The Finnish driver was replaced by George Russell – the winner of the most recent F1 race in Singapore – ahead of the 2022 campaign after five years with Mercedes.
The W13, defined by its small sidepod design, was among the cars most affected by the porpoising phenomenon during the first year of the ground-effect regulations in 2022.
The car was restricted to just a single race win with Russell collecting his maiden F1 victory at that year’s Brazilian Grand Prix.
Bottas returned to Mercedes as a reserve driver ahead of the F1 2025 season after leaving the Sauber team at the end of last year.
He announced in August that he will return to a full-time seat with the incoming Cadillac team for F1 2026, partnering former Red Bull driver Sergio Perez.
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