Why Valtteri Bottas won’t serve outstanding F1 grid penalty on Cadillac debut

Valtteri Bottas will likely avoid serving his outstanding five-place grid penalty if his next race in F1 is with Cadillac at the start of 2026.

Bottas picked up a grid penalty after colliding with Kevin Magnussen in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

However, that was Bottas’ last race in F1, having failed to land a Sauber drive for 2025.

While Bottas has remained active in F1 as Mercedes’ test and reserve driver, he has not raced in a grand prix since Abu Dhabi last year.

If Bottas were to race again, he would usually have to serve that aforementioned penalty.

Bottas could race for Mercedes this year, should George Russell or Kimi Antonelli be unable to.

A rule tweak by the FIA in the sporting regulations means Bottas’ penalty will expire before his expected return to the grid full-time with Cadillac.

According to numerous reports, Bottas is set to race for Cadillac in 2026.

Article B1.10.4g of the FIA’s sporting regulations now states “A drop of any number of grid positions for the next Sprint or Race in which the driver participates in the subsequent twelve (12) month period”.

Bottas’ grid penalty will officially expire at the end of the year, meaning he can line up on the grid in Australia, where he qualified.

Bottas set for F1 return

Numerous outlets, such as RN365, reported that Bottas has become Cadillac’s first F1 driver signing.

F1 approved Cadillac’s bid to join the grid as the sport’s 11th team in March.

Cadillac have been in no rush to decide their F1 drivers for 2026 because the existing 10 teams have their line ups locked down for next year.

Bottas has been heavily linked with a return to F1 with Cadillac, and an announcement seems imminent.

Sergio Perez could be set to be Bottas’ teammate at Cadillac, forming an all-star midfield line up.

If Perez secures the seat, Mick Schumacher and Felipe Drugovich have missed out.