F1 star Valtteri Bottas set to race Ferrari before 2026 season opener

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Valtteri Bottas set to race Ferrari before 2026 season opener

Valtteri Bottas is rejoining the F1 grid next year

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Tuesday 6 January 2026 19:45

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Cadillac F1 star Valtteri Bottas is set to swap his new team's machinery for a Ferrari before the start of the 2026 season.

Bottas is returning to a full-time F1 seat this year having spent 2025 as Mercedes' reserve driver, and he's joining up with Sergio Perez to complete Cadillac's first driver lineup as a team.

The American car giants will become the 11th team in F1 this year and it will be the first time since 2016 that there are more than 10 teams on the grid.

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Bottas previously raced full-time in the sport between 2013-2024, before being axed by his former Sauber team after not scoring a single world championship point in the 2024 season.

However, Bottas is a 10-time grand prix winner and boasts a plethora of experience, making him a vital asset to the new team as they attempt to find their feet in the sport.

Now, it's been revealed that racing enthusiast Bottas will take to the track in a classic Ferrari before the start of his return season in F1.

Bottas has been confirmed as a participant in the Adelaide Motorsport Festival at the end of February ahead of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, where he will drive a 1985 Ferrari.

The 156/85 in question was the car used for the inaugural Adelaide F1 race, and was the car with which Michele Alboreto challenged for that year's world championship, winning two races but missing out on the main prize to French racing legend Alain Prost.

As part of the Adelaide Motorsport Festival, Bottas will also take part in a meet and greet with racing fans, before his focus will switch to the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne just a week later.

Where will Cadillac and Bottas place in 2026?

Cadillac have got two very experienced racers in their two seats for 2026, as well as an experienced reserve driver, after Zhou Guanyu was confirmed to be taking up that position earlier this week.

It's a team that looks strong from the outside looking in, and they will be using Ferrari power units from 2026 which gives them fewer things to worry about than another new name on the grid in Audi, who are developing their own engines straight from the off.

Nevertheless, Cadillac team principal Graeme Lowdon has already said that the team will find things harder than Audi, who took over an already functioning F1 team in Sauber.

Cadillac have had to start from scratch, and their entrance into the sport was only officially confirmed back in November 2024.

Lowdon has said that he expects the outfit to be challenging right at the back of the pack for the 2026 season, despite their blockbuster driver lineup.

F1 Ferrari Cadillac Valtteri Bottas