EXCLUSIVE: Mercedes won’t block Valtteri Bottas's Cadillac handover

Valtteri Bottas is confident Mercedes will not “block me in any way” as he prepares to move to Cadillac for the 2026 F1 season.

The 36-year-old Finn returned to Mercedes as a reserve driver for this season after losing his Sauber seat at the end of 2024, but has secured a full-time comeback with the new Cadillac team.

Soon-to-be-teammate Sergio Perez is free to start work with Cadillac and has already carried out his first simulator run on the 2026 car. However, Bottas is limited to what he can do, given his Mercedes contract runs until the end of this year.

Bottas will officially begin work with his new team on 1 January ahead of the American outfit’s debut F1 campaign, but he is hoping to make a head start before then, despite still having Mercedes obligations to carry out.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Crash.net ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix, Bottas revealed initial talks about his handover have already taken place between Mercedes and Cadillac.

“There has been talks,” Bottas confirmed. “I think Graeme [Lowdon, Cadillac team principal] and Toto [Wolff, Mercedes team principal and CEO], they've been in talks as well.

“Mercedes has been really supportive on the transition, so I don't think they're going to block me in any way.

“There's been already discussions between me and Cadillac with online meetings and stuff like that, which I'm allowed to do and that's fine.

“Everyone understands that there's a lot of work to do and there's already some driver feedback that they need for certain things.

“Obviously, I'll start with Cadillac in January, but there will be a few things I could do here and there before that.”

Valtteri Bottas hoping for simulator run

10-time grand prix winner Bottas has already visited Cadillac’s Silverstone facility and the team are exploring the possibility of him carrying out some simulator work before the end of the year.

“I think simulator stuff, I think that’s something actually Mercedes and Cadillac are going to speak [about] this weekend. So I can let you know later,” Bottas said. 

“But I have had a visit at the Silverstone facility already - just had a quick look. Stuff like that. So yeah, I'll be doing some stuff.”

Asked if he is impressed with what he has seen so far, Bottas replied: “Yeah. I didn't actually expect everything to be that advanced. But I guess they started quite a while ago.

“There's obviously still lots of work to do but what I've seen so far has been impressive and gives me more confidence for the future.”

Having spent a year on the sidelines, Bottas admitted he is itching to get back racing again in F1.

“It definitely feels like Melbourne can't come soon enough,” he said.

"Even in the first test, it's going to be a huge moment for the team, building a team and a car from scratch. Those kind of highlights along the way are going to be really nice to be part of.

“Just every weekend I miss racing more and more. So yeah, I’m really keen to get going.”