Valtteri Bottas says becoming a member of the brand new Cadillac group represents the “largest problem” of his F1 profession.
Bottas, who scored 20 pole positions for Mercedes whereas driving as Lewis Hamilton’s teammate from 2017 to 2021, will return to the F1 grid full-time with the brand new Cadillac group in 2026.
The 36-year-old Finn has spent this season on the sidelines as Mercedes’ reserve driver. He made his F1 debut with Williams in 2013 earlier than becoming a member of Mercedes and incomes a three-season stint with Sauber from 2022 to 2024.
Talking solely to Crash.web, Bottas admitted that becoming a member of a brand new group in one of many largest regulatory overhauls in F1 historical past shall be his largest take a look at.
“It is most likely the most important problem of my profession,” he mentioned. “There’s a whole lot of work, however if you lastly attain the goal, it is actually, actually rewarding. That is what I am trying ahead to.
“As a driver, being on this group now, this position is actually fascinating when you possibly can actually make an enormous distinction in sure issues and really feel like that is the course issues are going to go sooner or later.
“It may be enjoyable, however it will be a whole lot of work.”
When requested what he might acquire from working with an elite group like Mercedes to Cadillac, Bottas replied:
“I feel rather a lot may be taken in terms of easy issues just like the construction of engineering conferences, pre-event conferences, and stories.
“No matter occurs with the radio communication between completely different individuals and completely different departments of the manufacturing unit and all this stuff, I can undoubtedly give my opinion, which is sweet.”
What’s the goal for 2026?
Bottas recorded 10 wins with Mercedes
Cadillac enters F1 with ambitions to win, however the American outfit is prepared for a really difficult debut marketing campaign in 2026.
Additionally it is very tough to make daring predictions as F1 is about to enter a brand new period of regulation.
Bottas hopes Cadillac “scores some factors” in yr one and avoids being final within the constructors’ championship.
“It is laborious to foretell,” he admitted. “Once more, the foundations change, the Puss modifications, together with the chassis, there are a whole lot of new issues for everybody.
“We’ve got to be real looking. It is a new group. We’ve got rather a lot to study. I feel the primary factor is to begin with to maintain ending races. We’ve got to get the reliability proper.
“However then now we have to be clear that now we have to enhance. I feel if we will get some factors within the first yr, it is already a extremely good begin for a brand new group and take a look at to not be the final.”
Since shedding his seat at Sauber on the finish of 2024, Bottas has repeatedly emphasised that he has unfinished enterprise in F1.
However what does a profitable return seem like ultimately?
“I simply wish to be a part of a group that may actually make progress,” he defined. “We will present ourselves and the world that this group is critical and desires to progress and get higher and higher.
“The place to begin might be going to be difficult and difficult, however the place we go from there, if we will get to respectable efficiency over the subsequent few years, it will likely be profitable.
“Yeah, let’s have a look at what the start line is after which we’ll go from there.”
