F1 star Valtteri Bottas bares all in NUDE helmet reveal

Cadillac F1 star Valtteri Bottas has revealed his 2026 helmet design, while stood naked in a swimming pool (no, you're not dreaming).

Bottas is rejoining the grid in 2026 with the new Cadillac team, where alongside his team-mate Sergio Perez, they will become the 21st and 22nd drivers on the F1 grid.

The Finnish racer had sat out the entirety of the 2025 season having been axed by Sauber at the end of 2024, instead becoming reserve driver with his former Mercedes team for 2025.

But having joined the grid as the 11th team ahead of 2026, Cadillac opted to go for experience with their driver lineup, hiring two racers who have a combined 16 grand prix victories between them.

Perez and Bottas have previously raced for some huge teams, including Williams, Mercedes and Red Bull, but they have been warned by team principal Graeme Lowdon that they can expect to be racing right at the back of the pack in 2026.

And now, clearly excited by his return to the F1 grid as a full-time racer, Bottas has unveiled his new helmet design.

The 36-year-old revealed that the design had actually been created by his girlfriend Tiffany Cromwell ahead of last season, but that he never got to wear it during a grand prix weekend.

Bottas explained that they had just tweaked the colours slightly to match Cadillac's branding and design, but that his 'favourite' blue colour remains prominent on the helmet, and the Finnish coat of arms also features.

But after explaining the ins and outs of the helmet design in a video on Instagram, the camera zoomed out to reveal Bottas stood completely naked in a swimming pool, with just his new helmet on.

Bottas is no stranger to getting his kit off, having created a nude calendar back in 2024 for charity, with funds going to Movember.

READ MORE: Six laps and home - How Aston Martin called time early on F1 testing nightmare

Where will Cadillac be in 2026?

While Lowdon had already explained that the Cadillac team were going to be running last in 2026, the pre-season test at the Bahrain International Circuit proved just how far off the midfield they really are.

Perez put in a time that was almost nine seconds slower than Charles Leclerc's fastest time on the final day of testing on Friday, while Bottas - completing more high-speed qualifying-style laps - was three-and-a-half seconds behind Leclerc.

The main thing for Cadillac during their first ever pre-season test was accumlating mileage and proving that they have a reliable machine having had to piece together a team of 500 from scratch over the last 14 months.

And they did this with much aplomb, not experiencing anywhere near the levels of problems that much more experienced outfit Aston Martin did during testing, and racked up 741 laps all told.

F1 HEADLINES: Hamilton trick stuns rivals as FIA rule change lurks

Related

More F1 news

Latest F1 news

Channel 4 F1 highlights today: How to watch the 2026 Dutch Grand Prix FREE in the UK

• 17 minutes ago

F1 Race Today: Dutch Grand Prix start time and how to watch live

• 48 minutes ago

Lewis Hamilton wants F1 world title number 8 but Ferrari are really starting to screw this up

• 1 hour ago

Top Sky Sports F1 stars absent at Dutch Grand Prix

• 2 hours ago

F1 Dutch Grand Prix starting grid with all penalties applied

• 3 hours ago

F1 News Today: Lewis Hamilton blames Ferrari change as Antonelli confirms grid penalty

• 3 hours ago