logo
Valtteri Bottas nears F1 return with Cadillac

Valtteri Bottas nears F1 return with Cadillac

TimesLIVE3 days ago

Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas is finalising a deal to return to Formula 1 with Cadillac in 2026, multiple news outlets reported.
Bottas, a reserve driver at Mercedes, added fuel to the speculation with a cheeky video posted to his X feed on Sunday.
In it, he opens the door of a Cadillac SUV and has a conversation with someone off camera.
'Oh wow, that's actually a nice seat,' Bottas says while checking out the driver's seat. 'I wouldn't mind.'
'And there's two seats,' the other man points out, prompting this reply from Bottas: 'And they're both free?'
But when the other voice asks if he wants to sit down, Bottas answers, 'Not yet.'
Cadillac is entering the championship series next season.
Bottas, 35, has made no secret of his desire to regain a full-time F1 seat after being dropped by Sauber at the end of the 2024 season.
The Finn has 10 career wins and 67 podium finishes in nearly 250 starts since 2013 with Sauber, Mercedes, Williams and Alfa Romeo. His last win came at the 2021 Turkish Grand Prix.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Norris fastest in final Austrian GP practice
Norris fastest in final Austrian GP practice

TimesLIVE

time2 hours ago

  • TimesLIVE

Norris fastest in final Austrian GP practice

McLaren wrapped up practice for the Austrian Grand Prix with Lando Norris leading Formula One leader Oscar Piastri in another one-two at the top of the time sheets ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen. Norris, second overall and 22 points behind Piastri after 10 of the season's 24 races, lapped the Red Bull Ring with a best time of 1:04.324 seconds and 0.118 quicker than the Australian. Verstappen was 0.210 off the pace, with a big spin at the last corner at the end of the session, and was followed by Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton in fourth and fifth. McLaren have topped two of the three sessions, with Mercedes' George Russell fastest in the opening one on Friday but sixth on a much warmer Saturday and getting hotter. 'That's why it went a little bit belly-up for us. We were quite competitive until the end and then you can see really it goes above a certain threshold of temperature and we lose performance,' Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff told Sky Sports television. 'The McLarens in high-speed (corners) is going to be very difficult to match. 'We changed the balance a bit yesterday and that was in a direction that wasn't so perfect. It came back more today but then the track temperature developed so drastically during the session, we went from 33°C to 42°C and that makes a big difference.' Mercedes had Italian rookie Kimi Antonelli seventh, ahead of Aston Martin's Lance Stroll, Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda and Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto completing the top 10. Norris was also fastest in Friday's second session and is looking determined after drawing a blank in Canada two weeks ago when he collided with Piastri.

Mercedes George Russell, the man without a contract, is fastest in Practice at Austria
Mercedes George Russell, the man without a contract, is fastest in Practice at Austria

IOL News

time3 hours ago

  • IOL News

Mercedes George Russell, the man without a contract, is fastest in Practice at Austria

George Russel is leading Mercedes' to the right direction along with rookie Kimi Antonelli. | AFP Image: AFP George Russell will need to fight tooth and nail for the second half of the season to hopefully get his bosses signature on his contract for next year. Russell was the fastest through the first free practice session at Spielberg on Friday ahead of Round 11's Austrian Grand Prix. Russell ran the fastest lap of the session with his 1:05:542 second lap at the Red Bull Ring, ahead of Max Verstappen. McLaren's Oscar Piastri finished the session in P3 with the most impressive driver of the day behind him - Formula 2's Alex Dunne. Dunne drove in place of Lando Norris for McLaren as part of regulations which dictate that a F2 driver take the seat during practice. Verstappen was just shy of Russell's pace - who is definitely looking to secure a consecutive win in Austria and prove to Toto Wolff that he deserves the coveted main seat of Mercedes for another season. 'It's not something that I'm pressing massively because, as I've always said, the performance is the priority, and I feel with the performance I'm showing at the moment – still in line with the performance I've shown over all these years – I've got zero reasons to be worried. But obviously it does help if there was pen on paper,' the British driver said during the Austrian GP media day.

Norris bounces back as McLaren take 1-2 in Austrian practice
Norris bounces back as McLaren take 1-2 in Austrian practice

eNCA

time12 hours ago

  • eNCA

Norris bounces back as McLaren take 1-2 in Austrian practice

Lando Norris bounced back from his Canadian catastrophe with his customary smile on Friday after topping the times ahead of team-mate and championship leader Oscar Piastri as McLaren reeled off a solid 1-2 in practice at the Austrian Grand Prix. As the paddock digested news that Mercedes had held talks about possibly signing Max Verstappen from Red Bull alongside George Russell in 2026 Norris clocked a best lap in one minute and 4.580 seconds to beat Piastri by 0.157 seconds. Four-time champion Max Verstappen was third fastest for Red Bull, adrift by 0.318 seconds. For Norris, who sat out the first session at the Red Bull Ring, it was a relief to move on from his collision with team-mate Piastri in Montreal where he retired pointless, admitting he had "made a fool of myself". "I didn't mind sitting on the pit wall," he said, with a grin, referring to missing the morning session. "I actually felt a lot more relaxed there than in the car, especially here. "I've always enjoyed this track. The car felt good right from the start. Alex (Dunne, reserve driver) gave solid feedback this morning after FP1 and was on pace straight away, which was encouraging to see." Norris added that he was pleased with the development of the car with McLaren's latest upgrades. "They definitely moved the car in the right direction for FP2," he said. "Now, we just need to figure out if we want more of that tomorrow, less, or somewhere in between. "So, it's a good step forward, but hopefully there's still a bit more to come." - 'Max is still close' - AFP | Joe Klamar McLaren came to the Styrian Alps with three performance-based updates including aerodynamic revisions of the front and rear of the car and suspension. Piastri, who leads Norris by 22 points in the title race, said he was satisfied with his first day in the car. "It looked pretty good," he said. "Max is still close, so I think he'll definitely be a threat this weekend, but the car's feeling good. I think the pace is quite good, so a positive first day." He added that both he and Norris had "all the parts that we think will make the car faster" on their cars. Verstappen, who took his time to improve through the sessions, said: "We didn't have any big issues. "We lack a bit of pace and had too much understeer, both on the short and the long run. So that is something we have to try to get rid of." Lance Stroll was fourth for Aston Martin ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, George Russell of Mercedes, who won last year and two weeks ago in Canada, and Yuki Tsunoda in the second Red Bull. Gabriel Bortoleto was eighth for Sauber ahead of two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, struggling in his updated Ferrari. Norris added: "We've shown a bit more pace than some others, so I certainly think they're going to catch up. Max is not far behind and they normally improve a lot on Saturday. "So I expect a good day tomorrow (Saturday) and I'm sure we'll improve on some things, but it's not as easy as maybe it looked. "I think it's still going to be tight tomorrow — it always is. There's no reason for it not to be, but we'll work hard to make it as big of a gap as possible."

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store