Mercedes reserve driver Valtteri Bottas has confirmed that the Brackley outfit is not going to stand in his method ought to some early work come by way of for the Cadillac Method 1 staff.
The Finnish driver is about to hitch former Purple Bull driver Sergio Perez on the American outfit for its debut yr within the championship in 2026.
Whereas Bottas is at the moment underneath contract with Mercedes as a reserve driver, he defined to Crash.web that talks have already taken place between Mercedes chief Toto Wolff and Cadillac staff principal Graeme Lowdon.
“There was talks. I believe Graeme [Lowdon, Cadillac team principal] and Toto [Wolff, Mercedes team principal and CEO], they have been in talks as nicely,” Bottas defined.
“Mercedes has been actually supportive on the transition, so I do not suppose they will block me in any method.
“There’s been already discussions between me and Cadillac with on-line conferences and stuff like that, which I am allowed to do and that is superb.
“Everybody understands that there is loads of work to do and there is already some driver suggestions that they want for sure issues.
Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes
Photograph by: Shameem Fahath / Motorsport Community
“Clearly, I will begin with Cadillac in January, however there can be a couple of issues I may do right here and there earlier than that.”
“I believe simulator stuff, I believe that’s one thing really Mercedes and Cadillac are going to talk [about] this weekend. So I can let you recognize later,” Bottas mentioned.
“However I’ve had a go to on the Silverstone facility already – simply had a fast look. Stuff like that. So yeah, I will be doing a little stuff.”
After visiting Cadillac’s headquarters in Silverstone, Bottas was happy to see the progress that the staff has already made.
“Yeah. I did not really count on every little thing to be that superior. However I suppose they began fairly some time in the past,” he continued.
“There’s clearly nonetheless a number of work to do however what I’ve seen up to now has been spectacular and provides me extra confidence for the long run.”
Cadillac will enter its debut season because the eleventh staff on the F1 grid with an skilled driver line-up, however Lowdon is remaining life like about his hopes for the staff’s entry into the championship.
“If a brand new staff have been to return in and instantly be aggressive towards them, you then’d be fairly upset and fairly indignant,” Lowdon instructed F1.com. “And so, we all know it is an enormous problem. It is very troublesome to quantify what success can seem like apart from we simply should execute in addition to we presumably can and achieve respect from the opposite opponents.
“I believe that is all the time the primary goal as a result of, if we do this, then we all know that we are going to be doing a very good job.”
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