Valtteri Bottas lifts lid on Cadillac timeline and emotional start: "People were crying"

Valtteri Bottas has revealed that his talks with the Cadillac Formula 1 team started more than three years ago, as he offered an update on the outfit as Bahrain testing for the 2026 season starts today. 

Bottas was confirmed to be part of Cadillac's line-up alongside former Red Bull driver Sergio Perez for the squad's first season in the championship. But while its arrival on the grid wasn't always a sure thing with the original Andretti name being denied access, conversations have been flowing between the Finn and the team for over three years. 

Officially joining the team at the start of the year, Bottas joined an organisation that had already gained momentum and an ever-expanding headcount, as well as strong global facilities in both the United States and England. 

Bottas told Kym Illman: “Bit more than three years ago was the first talks before the team had actually confirmation that there will be in F1. But with Graeme Lowdon, that's when the first discussion started and then he kept me updated on the progress.”

He added: “Finally when they got the entry then we started serious talks because earlier in 2025, Cadillac Formula 1 team became my priority. It was like, that's where I want to be. That's what I want my next project to be. Then in the end it was actually quite easy because I wanted to be there and clearly they wanted me as well.”

On the team culture that's forming under the umbrella of General Motors, he confirmed the sheer amount of dedication and emotion that his colleagues are bringing to the project. 

Sergio Perez, Cadillac Racing, Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac Racing

Photo by: Joe Portlock / LAT Images via Getty Images

"I've been actually surprised in how good of a shape the team is considering how late they got the confirmation that they can be in Formula 1. 

“The team is hiring all the time. The team is growing all the time. The factory is growing. They're building more facilities in the US. They are pretty serious about this. They're not here for fun…

"It was a rush to get the car ready and how much it actually meant to all the people to have the car running. Like there was people crying when the car ran for the first time.

"That's how much it meant to the people working flat out [for] so long. 

This week Cadillac joins the ten other teams of the championship for testing in Bahrain after the organisation revealed its livery to the world for the first time during the Super Bowl halftime show.