Valtteri Bottas names the Formula 1 team he was ‘quite happy’ to leave ahead of Cadillac return

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Only 14 drivers in the history of Formula 1 have taken part in more races than Valtteri Bottas.

The Finnish driver is preparing for a return to the grid with Formula 1’s newest team, Cadillac, in 2026, and if he completes a full 24-race season, he’ll leapfrog the likes of David Coulthard, Daniel Ricciardo and Felipe Massa.

Alongside his new teammate Sergio Perez, Cadillac have signed a driver pairing with more than 500 starts to their name as they try to get up to speed as quickly as possible.

Valtteri Bottas will score more points than Sergio Perez for Cadillac in 2026 – Change our minds

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Valtteri Bottas brings a wealth of experience with him, and his year as reserve at Mercedes last season would have given him the time to learn how a top F1 team functions behind the scenes which he wouldn’t have necessarily got if he were still an active driver.

Bottas has learned a lot at Mercedes and had an incredibly successful spell with the Silver Arrows before being replaced by George Russell in 2022.

Now, the 10-time race winner has shared which F1 outfit he was most excited to leave during his career.

READ MORE: Cadillac driver Valtteri Bottas’ life outside F1 from girlfriend to wine and gin

Valtteri Bottas admits he was ‘quite happy’ to be leaving Sauber in 2024

Bottas was a guest alongside Perez on the First We Feast YouTube channel.

The pair are continuing to take on as many press opportunities as possible to alert fans, particularly those in America, that they have a new team that they can throw their support behind.

The Finnish driver was asked by Perez which F1 team he was most excited to leave, and said: “I’m an honest man.

“Obviously, there are different circumstances in how you leave, why you leave…

“Stake F1 Team [also known as Sauber], I was quite happy to leave at the end because of the circumstances. But I have some good memories too.”

READ MORE: All to know about General Motors’ Cadillac F1 team from engine to drivers

How close Valtteri Bottas came to staying on the Formula 1 grid after Sauber exit

During Bottas’ last season racing for Sauber, he and teammate Zhou Guanyu were consistently stuck at the back of the grid.

Zhou scored Sauber’s only points in Qatar that year, but neither driver did enough to convince the team that they should be retained for 2025.

Instead, with the impending takeover of Audi, the team pivoted and signed experienced German driver Nico Hulkenberg and F2 champion Gabriel Bortoleto.

However, while Bottas eventually became Mercedes’ reserve driver, which has led to joining Cadillac, his career could have looked very different.

Bottas was Williams’ back-up option if they couldn’t sign Carlos Sainz, but the move to hire the Spaniard has proved to be the right one based on how he ended 2025.

Alternatively, Bottas could have ended up at Alpine before they decided to promote Jack Doohan.

He may be glad he didn’t pursue that option further, considering how difficult they found last season, and the uncertainty surrounding Christian Horner’s potential involvement at Alpine going forward.