{"id":37067,"date":"2025-08-27T04:31:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T08:31:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=37067"},"modified":"2025-08-27T04:31:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T08:31:09","slug":"valtteri-bottas-excited-about-ambitious-cadillac-f1-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/08\/27\/valtteri-bottas-excited-about-ambitious-cadillac-f1-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Valtteri Bottas excited about “ambitious” Cadillac F1 project"},"content":{"rendered":"

Valtteri Bottas<\/a> explains what stood out about Cadillac during his negotiations with the team. The Finn believes Cadillac have the vision to make a meaningful impact in Formula 1.<\/p>\n

The 10-time race winner positioned himself well this year, with his Mercedes<\/a> reserve duties keeping him active in the paddock.<\/p>\n

This allowed Bottas to evaluate the best options for 2026, before eventually deciding to sign on the dotted line with Cadillac.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Valtteri Bottas, Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber, 2024 Italian Grand Prix.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bottas is understood to have spoken with other teams, including Alpine, over the last few months.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, he decided that Cadillac offered the best overall package for next season.<\/p>\n

Bottas outlines Cadillac’s vision<\/h2>\n

When Bottas missed out on a contract extension with Sauber<\/a>, he insisted that he would make a return to F1.<\/p>\n

His first move at the end of 2024 was to secure a deal with Mercedes to become their reserve driver.<\/p>\n

Not only was this an intelligent decision to keep him present in this year’s contract discussions, but it also give him insights into the 2026 cars.<\/p>\n

Having spent months on 2026 development with Mercedes, Bottas is well-placed to guide Cadillac<\/a> through the next twelve months.<\/p>\n

In addition to his extensive experience in F1, the Finn is better placed than most to assist the US outfit over the coming months.<\/p>\n

Whilst there is a huge learning curve for Cadillac to overcome, Bottas has no doubts about the team’s potential:<\/p>\n

“From the moment I began speaking with the Cadillac Formula 1 Team, I felt something different. Something ambitious, but also grounded.<\/em><\/p>\n

“This isn\u2019t just a racing project, it\u2019s a long-term vision.<\/em><\/p>\n

“It’s not every day that you get a chance to be part of something being built from the ground up and helping shape it into something that truly belongs on the F1 grid.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had the honour of working with some of the best teams in the world, and I can already see the same professionalism and hunger here.<\/em><\/p>\n

“This is an iconic brand with a big legacy in American motorsport.<\/em><\/p>\n

“And to be a part of the story as it enters the world stage of F1, is incredibly special for me.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"
Valtteri Bottas, Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber, 2024 Singapore Grand Prix.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A chance to surprise in 2026<\/h4>\n

As the new team on the block, Cadillac won’t be expected to be at the front next season.<\/p>\n

If anything, it would be a success if Graeme Lowdon’s team finish 2026 in any position above than last place.<\/p>\n

Every other outfit has more experience, more established infrastructure and a larger pool of engineers than Cadillac will start with.<\/p>\n

Of course, this does not mean the US project cannot bridge the gap to other teams.<\/p>\n

They are understood to have been aggressively pursuing engineers from across the grid in their recruitment process.<\/p>\n

Cadillac are also investing heavily in developing the necessary infrastructure to be competitive, which should put them in a strong position in the long-term.<\/p>\n

Something to note is that, unlike the other 10 teams, Cadillac haven’t had to balance this year’s challenges with 2026 development<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In short, they could put all their eggs in one basket in the hopes of optimising next year’s package.<\/p>\n

Their engine agreement with Ferrari<\/a> also provides an element of stability for their first steps in Formula 1.<\/p>\n

Whilst these ingredients are no guarantee Cadillac will hit the ground running, Bottas seems confident enough this project can do more than just make up the numbers.<\/p>\n

Main photo: via Sauber media gallery<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Valtteri Bottas explains what stood out about Cadillac during his negotiations with the team. The Finn believes Cadillac have the vision to make a meaningful impact in Formula 1. The 10-time race winner positioned himself well this year, with his Mercedes reserve duties keeping him active in the paddock. This allowed Bottas to evaluate the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4927,"featured_media":37070,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[853,2566,2452],"class_list":["post-37067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-formula-1","category-news","tag-bottas","tag-cadillac-f1-team","tag-f1-2025-season"],"modified_by":"Jaden Diaz-Ndisang","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4927"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37067"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37067\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37071,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37067\/revisions\/37071"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}