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Bottas ready to drive Cadillac to success
The Star
|October 09, 2025
VALTTERI Bottas has spent the past year observing Formula One from the sidelines, officially as Mercedes’ reserve, attending briefings, analysing data, and staying fit in case he was needed. Unofficially, he has been waiting for another chance — a chance that comes in 2026 with Cadillac's first F1 team.
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“Getting this seat has been my target for a while,’ Bottas says. “This opportunity opened up, and I feel 100% good about it”
Bottas joined the Silver Arrows in 2017 to replace Nico Rosberg and quickly learned the scale of the task. For five seasons, he played the perfect lieutenant: scoring points, podiums, and occasional wins, while never threatening Lewis Hamilton's authority.
Together, they secured multiple constructors’ titles. Bottas won 10 Grands Prix but always in Hamilton's shadow. When Mercedes chose George Russell as Hamilton's long-term partner in 2022, Bottas was sidelined.
This story is from the October 09, 2025 edition of The Star.
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