Valtteri Bottas is counting down the days until his F1 return with Cadillac, but the 36-year-old Finn will step behind the wheel of an iconic Ferrari before he drives for the sport’s newest team at the Australian Grand Prix in March.
Bottas has been confirmed as a participant in the Adelaide Motorsport Festival at the end of February, driving a Ferrari 156/85 from the 1985 season. The car appeared in the first Adelaide F1 race, driven by Michele Alboreto, Rene Arnoux and Stefan Johansson as the Prancing Horse finished second in the Constructors’ Championship standings.
Alboreto was in contention for the Drivers’ Championship title that year, battling French racing icon Alain Prost for the sport’s greatest prize, but the Italian failed to score points in any of the final five rounds of the season as four consecutive DNFs set him up for heartbreak.
Bottas will now pilot Alboreto’s chassis alongside a classic Holden HQ Monaro. The Former Mercedes and Sauber driver will also engage in a meet-and-greet with fans at the multi-day event.
The Nastola-born racer spent the 2025 campaign on the sidelines, working as a third driver for Mercedes. His job involved no track sessions at Grand Prix weekends, but Bottas played an essential role in the development of teenage rookie Kimi Antonelli, mentoring the young Italian after he was called in to replace the Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton.
Now, Bottas is gearing up for a return to full-time F1 racing with Cadillac, who have also roped in Sergio Perez for the team’s debut campaign in 2026. The experienced duo combine for 16 Grand Prix victories and 527 starts over their decorated careers.
At the American squad, Bottas will also reunite with former Sauber team-mate Zhou Guanyu, with whom he enjoyed a strong rapport before both drivers were replaced in 2025. The Chinese racer signed as a reserve driver on Monday, just three days after leaving Ferrari’s stable.
“I have a lot of respect for Ferrari,” Cadillac team principal Graeme Lowdon told F1.com after Zhou’s move was confirmed. “It’s a team we’ve worked with before in the past; I know the people there very well.
“I know just how highly they valued Zhou’s input in 2025, which was another big factor for us. It also means that, in some way, that Zhou staying in that overall family, he’s had experience of development and experience of the 2026 tyres, and also just experience in operating in a top-class, very competitive team.
“So from our point of view, it just ticked all of the boxes in so many ways; the experience, the direct experience with Ferrari, who are our partner for the power unit and the gearbox, and so it just made a lot of sense for him to join the team.”