Cadillac still need to resolve one issue with Mercedes before they field 2026 signing Valtteri Bottas

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Valtteri Bottas couldn’t even spend 12 months away from the Formula 1 grid before landing himself back on it with Cadillac.

Fans are going to miss his wacky social media clips at Mercedes, but he’s now signed up for a far greater cause. He wants to help lead a new team to constructors’ championship success.

For Cadillac, that doesn’t necessarily mean winning the whole thing, as that would be ludicrous. Making immediate progress would be a significant win for them.

Bottas has the right level of experience to help drive them forward, as does new teammate Sergio Perez. They combine for over 500 races’ worth of knowledge.

Martin Brundle sent Bottas an instant warning and believes that there will be frustrations early on, as is to be expected with a completely new team.

After spending a bit of time around his new team, Bottas can ‘already see’ something positive at Cadillac, which helped to make Mercedes champions. They’re starting on the right foot.

READ MORE: Cadillac told the ‘very likely’ outcome that signing Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez guarantees

Cadillac need to resolve Valtteri Bottas’ release from Mercedes before fielding 2026 signing

Cadillac have made the perfect choice signing Bottas, as well as Perez, because it means they have the two highest scoring drivers of all time without a championship.

Albeit other drivers might have been ahead of them if the Formula 1 points system had been the same all the way through, they have still proven themselves to be exactly what the North American outfit needs.

Current colleague Kimi Antonelli sent Bottas a message to congratulate him on his move, but they might be seeing a lot of each other for a while yet, as Bottas’ Mercedes release hasn’t been negotiated yet.

According to The Race’s Scott Mitchell-Malm, when he will be able to make a full-time move across is still ‘unresolved’.

“Bottas has a lot of Mercedes duties, he’s not just there to make some light-hearted social media videos. Mercedes mapped out a testing schedule based on Bottas’ availability, and he is their main reserve driver,” he said.

“Moving on from that seems to still be unresolved. Towriss says they are still working through some of the details there, and it isn’t decided when his day job will switch from Mercedes to Cadillac.

“It is unlikely to meet much resistance, given Bottas has already been in front of the media to discuss his Cadillac move. And this is all going very amicably.”

READ MORE: F1 fans all say the same thing as Cadillac confirm Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez as their 2026 driver line-up

Why Cadillac have risked making one big mistake with their 2026 F1 line-up

Experience was the first box for Cadillac to tick, as they waited to make a decision on their 2026 driver line-up. Availability for the rest of 2025 will have been a factor, too.

In signing at least one free agent, they can get to work almost immediately, putting all the correct procedures in place to ensure a smooth start to the 2026 F1 regulations.

However, Cadillac risk making one big mistake by opting for two older drivers. It’s not the most future-proof approach, when they could be able to nail down a special talent at a lower price.

For now, they will be happy with the oldest pairing on the grid, but in a few years, they hope to be in a position to attract some of the sport’s top drivers anyway.