Cadillac 'agree terms' with F1 driver over 2026 seat

An F1 pundit has suggested that terms have been agreed for 10-time grand prix winner Valtteri Bottas to join the new Cadillac team for the 2026 season.

Bottas has been out of a full-time seat in the sport since being axed by Sauber at the end of the 2024 season, but has been performing reserve driver duties at Mercedes during that time.

Having raced with Mercedes between 2017-2021, the Finn was welcomed with open arms back into the Brackley outfit at the start of 2025, and team principal Toto Wolff has recently reiterated that the team will not stand in the way of Bottas getting a full-time opportunity with another team.

Now, it appears as though Cadillac are going to be the team to snap up the services of the 35-year-old.

The American outfit will officially join the F1 grid as the sport's 11th team in 2026, and are still looking to fill their two seats for next season. According to journalist Julianne Cerasoli, terms have been agreed for the signing of Bottas.

"I spent most of the day, up and down the paddock, trying to figure out what is going on with Cadillac, with the drivers," she told the Pit Pass podcast.

"Their priority is that they need a driver ASAP for the simulator, because they are really far behind now with all the simulator work.

"So, this guy might be Valtteri. The terms are agreed, to my knowledge, nothing has been signed yet, but the terms are agreed.

"And Valtteri will have that memory, because the terms for Audi, for the Sauber contract for this year, were agreed as well, but he never saw the papers for him to sign, the one who saw them was Gabriel Bortoleto.

"But now, it’s the same situation. Terms agreed, and they really need a driver for the simulator, and they need it now."

Who will race for Cadillac in 2026?

Team principal Graeme Lowdon has confirmed that Cadillac have been in conversation with a number of drivers about their two vacant spots on the grid, including Sergio Perez and Mick Schumacher.

It's understood that the team want at least one vastly experienced driver for their first season in the sport, and both Bottas and Perez certainly fit that bill.

Bottas has amassed 246 race starts across his career, claiming 67 podiums in that time.

Perez, meanwhile, has fewer grand prix victories than Bottas - six - but has had more race experience in the sport, starting 281 races across a career that spanned between 2011-2024.

It appears that these two are the favourites for the two seats at Cadillac, but the likes of Schumacher, Zhou Guanyu and Colton Herta have also been strongly linked in recent months.

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