Former Finnish Formula 1 driver Valtteri Bottas took to social media to tease a potential return to the sport with the incoming Cadillac F1 team by sharing a clip where he strokes the seat of a Cadillac road car, saying, “Oh, wow, that’s actually a nice seat. I wouldn’t mind.”
Cadillac is certainly on his radar — but is it likely? Based on some of the chatter we’ve heard recently, we’ve selected a handful of teams that Bottas could compete for in 2026, both inside and outside of F1, and ranked in order of least to most likely.
Valtteri Bottas to: Alpine in Formula 1
When it comes to Formula 1, Valtteri Bottas’ options are quite slim. During an episode of F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast, he admitted that Mercedes seems quite content with its current line-up of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, while Red Bull is off the table entirely as some folks in the organization don’t like him.
But if we skim further down the grid, there is one possibility: Alpine.
Bottas told BTG that “probably there has been some discussions” with the French team for 2026; after all, he’d chatted with Alpine briefly in 2024 when it finally became clear that he wouldn’t be signing with Audi. But the chances of him joining are still a bit murky.
Bottas rightly points out that Alpine moving to a Mercedes power unit would be helpful, but that “there’s a lot of politics in this sport” and that he doesn’t have the “tens of millions” of dollars to pay for a seat.
However, he did also note that Alpine is on its second driver of 2025, and that perhaps a more experienced driver could help solve some of the team’s problems.
Valtteri Bottas to: IndyCar
Could we see Valtteri Bottas in IndyCar in 2026? According to the man himself, it’s an option.
“Ovals, I’ve never tried them, but I’ve got no concerns,” he told Tom Clarkson in an episode of Beyond the Grid.
“I think that is one, let’s say, if it’s not Formula 1 next year for me, I definitely need to figure out what is the Plan B, and one option definitely is IndyCar.
“And if that would be the case, I would want to commit to many years, because I know it’s not going to be easy. It’s a different category, different cars, different tracks.
“But yeah, let’s not talk about it too much yet.”
Bottas wouldn’t be the first former F1 driver to make the swap to IndyCar. Romain Grosjean found the American open-wheel series a welcoming place after his crash at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix brought his European open-wheel career to a premature end.
But what IndyCar team could Bottas race for?
He has plenty of options, with perhaps the most likely being Dale Coyne Racing. DCR is something of a backmarker team, but it’s one that doesn’t hesitate to sign a driver that can bring sponsorship; in the BTG chat, Bottas noted that he did have personal sponsors, but that they weren’t enough to nab him an F1 seat. However, he’d absolutely have the ability to join DCR.
Other options higher up the grid include Meyer Shank Racing or Andretti Global. MSR hasn’t hesitated to sign drivers with international backgrounds, including current drivers Marcus Armstrong and Felix Rosenqvist, while Andretti Global could serve as a great fall-back option for Bottas should a Cadillac F1 drive fail to pan out.
Still, IndyCar isn’t an overwhelmingly great option for Bottas. Ovals represent a whole new discipline, and many of the major championship-contending teams have locked down their driver line-ups for the coming years. There are still stronger options on the horizon.
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Valtteri Bottas to: Cadillac F1
The most likely option for Valtteri Bottas to return to Formula 1 would be with none other than Cadillac F1.
The all-new American team will join the sport for the F1 2026 season, and it has already made it clear that it would like to sign a driver with F1 talent in order to draw on that experience when joining the sport. Bottas is one name on that list, though he’s been joined by the likes of Sergio Perez, Daniel Ricciardo, and Zhou Guanyu.
The primary concern is that Cadillac is taking its time.
“I don’t think they’re in a massive rush,” Bottas said during his Beyond the Grid podcast interview.
” They’ve been very, very busy on trying to get a car on the grid for Melbourne next year, or for the first test early next year.
“Timeline-wise, I know my timeline, when I want to know about next year, and what plans do I need to make, which I think August more or less is a pretty good target for that. But hopefully we’ll hear something more soon.
“Again, I think they have a few drivers on the list. I would imagine my experience will help, because now I’ve raced in three different teams, with one of the teams had mega success — with Williams as well, had some great results. So I hope I’m in a good position.
“For me, I actually see a very interesting project, you know, something new to Formula 1, an American team with maybe a different view to the sport.
“And for me, let’s say, if I would be there as a driver, would be actually very interesting, because you can start from scratch. The team starts from zero, and you could actually make a big influence on certain things, which direction to go. And that would be very motivating and rewarding when the success comes.”
Bottas could be a smart call thanks to his F1 experience, which culminated in him driving customer Ferrari power units similar to what Cadillac will be using until it constructs its own works engines for 2026.
It could be a great — and highly likely — fit for Bottas.
Valtteri Bottas to: WEC
Could we see Valtteri Bottas join the World Endurance Championship?
“Why not?” the Finnish driver asked.
“I think Le Mans is a very exciting race. There’s many exciting endurance races.
“At the moment, everything is wide open, and I’m very, very open to anything. And also, like sometimes it’s good to see where the wind takes you.”
Global endurance racing is flourishing, and the WEC is a great example of what happens when a technical ruleset is designed with automaker participation in mind. At Le Mans this year, the top-level prototype class featured entries from Aston Martin, Porsche, Toyota, Cadillac, BMW, Alpine, Ferrari, and Peugeot — and that’s only counting hypercars. There are even more options further down the grid in LMP2 or in the GT class.
Here, the world is Bottas’ oyster. Perhaps he could lock down a Cadillac or Alpine seat, albeit in the WEC rather than F1. Perhaps he could use his Ferrari power unit ties to find a seat at a Ferrari prototype team, or his Mercedes ties to grab a GT drive.
The options are almost endless in endurance racing; if the WEC doesn’t work out, Bottas could turn to America’s IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Series, or the European or Asian Le Mans Series, or any one of the various regional GT World Challenge Endurance Cup series.
As such, endurance racing is Bottas’ most likely home for the future, if only thanks to the sheer number of options he could have.
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