Valtteri Bottas admits he was 'happy' to leave F1 team

Bottas in an official Mercedes F1 team t-shirt, slumped over a railing in the F1 paddock looking despondent — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

Valtteri Bottas admits he was 'happy' to leave F1 team

Valtteri Bottas is back!

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Friday 9 January 2026 09:57

Valtteri Bottas has revealed which F1 team he was happy to leave during his career.

The Finn will race with his fourth different F1 team as Cadillac join the grid for the 2026 season, making his comeback after a sabbatical in 2025.

Bottas was axed by Sauber – now Audi – at the end of the 2024 season, instead spending last season in the Mercedes garage as their reserve and third driver.

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During his final season with Sauber, Bottas failed to score a single point and when asked to reflect on the teams he has been a part of during his F1 career, chose Sauber as the one he looked forward to leaving the most.

Bottas and Perez get spicy

The Finn made a recent appearance on Hot Ones Versus, alongside new Cadillac team-mate Sergio Perez, where the Mexican put a query forward to Bottas.

Perez asked Bottas: “You have been part of five F1 teams [counting Alfa Romeo separately], which one were you the most excited to leave?”

In keeping with the format with the show, Bottas either had to answer the question or ignore it by eating hot wings.

Bottas decided to answer, and said: “I’m an honest man. Honestly there’s different circumstances, how you leave, why, whatever reasons.”

But Perez was having none of this sitting on the fence nonsense, and pushed Bottas to name the team, who then revealed: “Stake F1 team [Sauber] I was quite happy to leave at the end because of the circumstances, but I had some good memories too.”

F1 Sergio Perez Cadillac Valtteri Bottas