Valtteri Bottas’s sweary response to false Cadillac F1 rumours

Valtteri Bottas believes unfounded rumours that his Cadillac Formula 1 seat was at risk were purely created for “headlines and clicks”.

The 36-year-old Finn had only competed in five races for F1’s newest team Cadillac before wild speculation surrounding his future swirled in the wake of the Canadian Grand Prix.

Rumours emerged online and appeared to have been sparked by individual opinions shared during Sky Sports Italy’s coverage that were misinterpreted as being a factual claim.

While Bottas has not had the best start to the season, and was clearly second-best to team-mate Sergio Perez across the Canada weekend, Cadillac has no plans to replace the 10-time grand prix winner, who is signed to a multi-year deal.

Bottas hit out at the rumours ahead of this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix, telling media including Crash.net: “It’s part of the sport. It’s not the first time there’s rumours.

“It’s a bit of a shame that somebody makes up complete b******* but that’s normal in this spot. I know my situation, the team knows my situation and they support me 100 percent. So that’s why from my, it was okay.”

Asked what he thought the goal of the stories was, Bottas offered a short response: “Headline and clicks, that’s my theory.”

Cadillac team principal Graeme Lowdon was quick to rubbish the rumours that Bottas could be axed.

“There is no foundation of truth in any of the rumours at all,” Lowdon insisted. “I can categorically say that. Just… where do I start on the rumours themselves? I’ll make it really, really clear factually, they’re completely incorrect. There’s no basis of truth whatsoever in any of them.

“Secondly, if we look at the job that both drivers are doing, both Valtteri and Checo [Perez], they’re doing way more than drivers in some other teams are having to do, because we’re constructing the team while we’re racing at the same time, and that’s a very unusual task.”

It was suggested that Cadillac’s reserve driver and Formula 2 racer Colton Herta was being lined up to replace Bottas, but Lowdon quickly shot that theory down.

“In terms of rumours, and to be honest, I haven’t read all of them, but a few that I’ve read just don’t even seem to take into account some of the absolute basic rules of Formula 1, because some of them suggest they would put Colton in to replace Valtteri in the next few races, or whatever,” he explained.

“Colton doesn’t have any super license points (sic), and to some extent, that probably says it all about the quality of some of the rumours, but I prefer not to focus on pointing out the obvious. I think the fans can see through all of that.

“Colton has a programme that he’s working to, Checo has a programme with us that he’s working to, and Valtteri the same; they’re all contributing in their own way to what we’re trying to do in establishing the Cadillac Formula 1 team.

“It’s very important to make it abundantly clear that there is absolutely not one shred of actual truth or evidence to any of the rumours suggesting that either Valtteri is at risk or indeed that Checo might go to another team.”