Well if it turns out there’s nothing in this...it’s the most brazen and brilliant social media gag we’ve ever seen. Valtteri Bottas has posted a teaser-slash-sketch heavily linking himself to one of the vacant Cadillac F1 drives for 2026.
As the Finn walks along the street, the conversation unfolds a little like this: “Hey, Valtteri, that’s a Cadillac,” says an unnamed male pointing at an Escalade, before opening its door and declaring, “That’s a nice seat!”
“Oh, wow, that’s actually a nice seat,” says Bottas. “I wouldn’t mind.”
“And there’s two seats,” points out his companion.
“And they’re both free?”
“Oh yeah. Want to sit in it?
Valtteri pauses. “Not yet.” End of scene. You can go watch the full thing here.
The 35-year-old—now moonlighting as Mercedes’ reserve driver—has made no secret of his desire to return to the grid, telling us last month he was in active talks to do just that for next season.
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And specifically addressing Cadillac, he said: “Cadillac is a new team joining the sport, which is exciting. What would be motivating for me is to get into a project, you know? Commit to X amount of years with clear targets. That’s what I need at this point.
“I don’t see the point of just doing one season just to be in Formula 1. But what I feel like I need is a clear project. And I think it’s a good example with a new team, that would be quite refreshing, when you can really start from scratch.
“I do like an Escalade,” he added. “And the Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters.” And if that doesn’t sound like job interview prep...
Since then, it sounds like Cadillac’s interest in Bottas has become more concrete, and there’s been no more word on whether Sergio Perez—another race winner currently enjoying an F1 sabbatical—is in the frame for one of Cadillac’s seats. All we know is that it definitely can’t be both.
Who would you hire, folks? Successful applicants must have years of experience and awards; strong social media game preferred, but not essential.
NOTE: This article first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.
