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Valtteri Bottas shares what Toto Wolff told him about Cadillac just a week into their first season

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Valtteri Bottas shared the response he got from his former boss, Toto Wolff, after his first completed race with Cadillac.

Valtteri Bottas just penned an incredible testimony on The Players’ Tribune, where he shared details about the ups and downs of his F1 career.

The Finnish driver opened up about a host of topics. Perhaps most striking was the lengths Bottas went to help Williams early in his career.

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Valtteri Bottas on the podium at the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Sergio Perez lifting a trophy on the podium at the 2024 Japanese Grand Prix
Photo by Song Haiyuan/MB Media/Getty Images

But perhaps what caught the eye of many fans was his detailing his strained relationship with Mercedes. Things got so bad that Bottas almost left Mercedes over team orders to help Lewis Hamilton.

However, despite his issues with Mercedes, there appears to have been no bad blood between Valtteri Bottas and Toto Wolff, who praised his work with Cadillac recently.

READ MORE: Mario Andretti reveals what Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas have told him Cadillac are ‘lacking’

Mercedes F1 CEO and team principal Toto Wolff (R) and Mercedes' Finnish reserve driver Valtteri Bottas watch in the garage during the first practice session of the 2025 Saudi Arabia Formula One Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit on April 18, 2025.
Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images

Toto Wolff sent Valtteri Bottas a message of ‘respect’ after Chinese Grand Prix

In his piece on The Players’ Tribune, Valtteri Bottas revealed that Toto Wolff approached him after his first completed race with Cadillac at the Chinese Grand Prix.

Bottas, who finished 13th at Shanghai, was thrilled with his performance. And Toto Wolff further encouraged him by applauding the job he and Cadillac had done during the infancy of the team’s F1 stint.

“If you don’t really follow F1 closely, you can’t understand what an incredible task it is to build a car from scratch in the time that we did, and to get it to run properly. For us to be able to finish 13th in China in our second race ever is almost like a miracle.

“I remember Toto came up to me after the race, and he was so impressed that we were able to finish the race at all. I could see the respect Toto had for what we’re building here. It meant a lot to me.”

Clearly, Wolff holds Bottas in the highest regard, despite the issues the two may have had during their time together. In fact, the pair even reunited recently with another familiar face from the Mercedes days.

READ MORE: Jolyon Palmer thinks Cadillac will be ‘absolutely seething’ after the Chinese Grand Prix

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Graphic which shows F1 world champion Mario Andretti smiling for the camera with a quote from Cadillac CEO Dan Towriss about naming the car after the legendary driver
Credit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Tribeca Festival)

Valtteri Bottas details jet reunion with Toto Wolff and Lewis Hamilton

Bottas also explained the story behind the picture of himself with Wolff, Lewis Hamilton, and George Russell on board the private jet, and how that came to be.

“Due to the craziness going on in the world, the flights were a mess, so he actually asked me if I wanted a ride back to Monaco on his private plane.

“The whole world has seen the photo now, but it was really special to catch up with Toto, Lewis and George on the flight. With all the noise and drama of F1 … well, it was just four human beings hanging out for a few hours.”

For Bottas, getting to interact with his former colleagues, not to mention the driver who replaced him at Mercedes, would have been a full circle moment.

Any resentment or frustration from his time or his exit from Mercedes went out the window as Bottas got to reunite and share a good time with people he worked with for many years.