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CadillacValtteri Bottas is a Finnish Formula One driver racing for Cadillac in 2026. He has 10 race wins, 20 pole positions, and 67 podiums across 12 F1 seasons. He spent five years as Lewis Hamilton's teammate at Mercedes, contributed to five consecutive Constructors' Championship titles, and finished runner-up in the Drivers' Championship in both 2019 and 2020. He holds the Formula One record for the most career points without a World Championship (1,797).
After a year away from the grid in 2025, he returns with Cadillac alongside Sergio Perez as one of two drivers on a new manufacturer's debut.
| Full name | Valtteri Viktor Bottas |
| Date of birth | 28 August 1989 |
| Birthplace | Nastola, Finland |
| Height | 173cm |
| Nationality | Finnish |
| Current team | Cadillac F1 Team |
| Car number | #77 |
| Languages | Finnish, English |
| Home | Monaco |
| Partner | Tiffany Cromwell (Australian cyclist) |
Bottas was born and raised in Nastola, a small town in southern Finland. His father Rauno owns a small cleaning company. His mother Marianne Valimaa works as an undertaker. It is not a glamorous background for a future Grand Prix winner, and Bottas has never pretended otherwise.
He studied automotive engineering at a vocational school in Heinola and graduated as a qualified auto mechanic before racing fully took over. He also completed mandatory Finnish military service in the Defence Forces Sports School in Lahti, holding the rank of lance corporal.
His childhood racing hero was compatriot Mika Hakkinen. The relationship later became something more concrete: Hakkinen provided mentoring and guidance as Bottas made his way toward Formula One, a direct connection between two of the most significant Finnish racing drivers of their respective generations.
Bottas's interest in motorsport began at age six in a way that could not have been scripted. He was shopping in his local supermarket with his grandfather when he saw a karting event advertised on a noticeboard. He went. He was immediately captivated. That chance afternoon set everything in motion.
Bottas began karting in 1995 at age six. He progressed through the Finnish and Nordic karting ranks over the following decade, finishing eighth at the Karting World Cup in 2005. By 2006 he was ready for cars.
Bottas entered the Formula Renault UK Winter Series in 2007 and won three of four races. He was not awarded the title because he did not hold the required MSA-registered licence. In 2008 with Motopark he won both the Formula Renault Eurocup and the Formula Renault NEC championship, beating a young Daniel Ricciardo by three points in the Eurocup finale. It was his first major double and introduced him to a wider European audience.
Bottas moved to the Formula Three Euroseries in 2009, finishing third in his rookie campaign. He won the prestigious Masters of Formula 3 invitational race that year, then won it again in 2010, becoming the first driver to win the Masters back-to-back. The victory brought him to the attention of Williams, who signed him as a test driver in 2010.
In 2011, now a Williams development driver, he entered the GP3 Series with ART. He won four consecutive races to close the season and clinched the championship over teammate James Calado. The title convinced Williams he was ready for more.
Bottas spent three years as Williams's test and reserve driver. In 2012 he made an unusual decision: rather than race in a feeder series, he chose not to race at all and instead completed 15 Friday practice sessions with Williams at F1 race weekends. He described it as the best preparation available given the ban on in-season testing. Williams agreed. At the end of 2012 they dropped Bruno Senna and gave Bottas his race seat for 2013.
Bottas made his F1 debut at the 2013 Australian Grand Prix alongside Pastor Maldonado. Points were difficult in an uncompetitive car but he showed enough to convince the team of his ceiling. His breakthrough came in 2014 when he secured his maiden F1 podium at the Austrian Grand Prix and finished fourth in the championship. He added five more podiums that year and helped Williams to third in the constructors standings, their best result since 2003.
2015 and 2016 were more modest. The Williams was less competitive and Bottas managed one podium each year. He out-qualified teammate Felipe Massa 17 to 4 in 2016. Williams wanted to keep him. Mercedes had other ideas.
When Nico Rosberg shocked the sport by retiring five days after winning the 2016 World Championship, Mercedes called Bottas. In January 2017, he was announced as Hamilton's new teammate. The pressure was immediate and obvious.
He handled it well. He took his maiden F1 victory at the 2017 Russian Grand Prix, his 81st start, then added wins in Austria and Abu Dhabi. Three wins, nine podiums, and third in the championship in his first season at a top team. It was an emphatic answer to the doubters.
2018 was the hardest season of Bottas's career. Hamilton won eleven races. Bottas won none. He finished second seven times in a winless season, setting a new F1 record for the most runner-up finishes without a win. He finished fifth in the championship with 247 points.
He has since described 2018 as the season he "lost the joy of F1" and admitted he came close to retiring from the sport entirely at the end of it. He signed a one-year extension to his Mercedes contract and went into 2019 with something to prove.
The opening race of 2019 in Australia told the story of his recovery. Bottas won the race and delivered one of the most memorable radio messages in recent F1 history: "To whom it may concern: fuck you." He later explained it was addressed to everyone who had doubted him. Coming from a driver renowned for calm and reserve, the moment captured something real about what the previous year had cost him.
He won four races in 2019 and finished runner-up to Hamilton in the championship, his best result to that point. In 2020 he won two races and was runner-up again. In both seasons he was faster than every driver on the grid except one.
Bottas took his final Mercedes victory at the 2021 Turkish Grand Prix. For much of the season the pressure of George Russell's impending arrival was the backdrop to every weekend. He won once, scored ten podiums, and contributed to Mercedes's fifth consecutive constructors title. In September 2021, it was confirmed he would leave the team at the end of the year. Russell would take his seat.
Across five seasons at Mercedes, Bottas delivered ten wins, 58 podiums, 20 pole positions, and a central role in one of the most dominant periods any team has produced in Formula One.
Bottas joined Alfa Romeo for 2022 as team leader, replacing compatriot Kimi Raikkonen. He hit the ground running: six top-ten finishes in the opening nine races as Alfa Romeo adapted to the new regulations better than most of its midfield rivals. He finished tenth in the championship.
2023 and 2024 were progressively more difficult as the car fell behind in development. In 2024, driving for the renamed Sauber, Bottas scored zero points across a full 24-race season, his worst year in Formula One. The team replaced him and Zhou Guanyu entirely with Hulkenberg and Bortoleto for 2025.
Without a race seat, Bottas returned to Mercedes as a reserve driver for 2025. He described the move as "like coming back home." He was offered a seat in the IndyCar Series and declined, stating he was unwilling to adapt to an entirely new category after twelve years in Formula One. He wanted to stay and wait for the right F1 opportunity.
He completed a private test in the McLaren MCL60 as part of a reserve driver arrangement between Mercedes and McLaren.
In August 2025, Cadillac announced Bottas and Sergio Perez as the first two drivers in the history of the Cadillac F1 Team for their 2026 debut. It is the first American manufacturer-backed F1 entry in decades. Bottas and Perez bring a combined total of over 700 F1 race starts and 16 Grand Prix victories to a brand new project.
The 2026 technical regulations reset the entire grid. For a driver who spent a year on the sidelines watching from the reserve seat, it is the cleanest possible entry point back into the sport.
Bottas lives in Monaco. He is in a relationship with Australian professional cyclist Tiffany Cromwell, who he met during his time in the cycling community he has cultivated alongside his racing career. He is a committed cyclist off-track.
He took part in the 2019 Arctic Rally and recorded a stage win, finishing fifth overall. It is characteristic of a driver who does not confine himself to the simulator between races and prefers physical competition in other forms.
He is described consistently as reserved, diligent, and calm; qualities he has attributed to growing up in Finland. He has said that learning to drive on frozen Finnish roads means you can handle almost anything a racing car throws at you. His 2019 Australian Grand Prix radio message suggests that beneath the composure, the competitive fire is as intense as any driver on the grid.
| Year | Team | Races | Wins | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Williams | 19 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 17th |
| 2014 | Williams | 19 | 0 | 6 | 186 | 4th |
| 2015 | Williams | 18 | 0 | 2 | 136 | 5th |
| 2016 | Williams | 21 | 0 | 1 | 85 | 8th |
| 2017 | Mercedes | 20 | 3 | 9 | 305 | 3rd |
| 2018 | Mercedes | 21 | 0 | 9 | 247 | 5th |
| 2019 | Mercedes | 21 | 4 | 15 | 326 | 2nd |
| 2020 | Mercedes | 17 | 2 | 11 | 223 | 2nd |
| 2021 | Mercedes | 22 | 1 | 10 | 226 | 3rd |
| 2022 | Alfa Romeo | 22 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 10th |
| 2023 | Alfa Romeo | 22 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 18th |
| 2024 | Sauber | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20th |
| 2026 | Cadillac | — | — | — | — | In progress |
Career totals: 10 wins, 20 poles, 67 podiums, 250+ race starts, 1,797 points
Last updated March 2026
