Wolff: Bottas joining Alpine is a 'pleasant idea'

      "These matters should be resolved here by July."

      Valtteri Bottas' time on the sidelines in Formula 1 may be coming to a swift conclusion. As Franco Colapinto struggles to adapt at Alpine, strong rumors are emerging about a connection between team principal Flavio Briatore and Mercedes' Toto Wolff. It remains unclear whether Briatore, at 75, is truly contemplating another mid-season driver change in 2025 or if he is laying the groundwork for the 2026 season. An insider from the Alpine team informed Auto Motor und Sport: "Colapinto is losing too much time to (Pierre) Gasly."

      When asked about the situation, Wolff, who currently has Bottas under contract as a full-time reserve driver, acknowledged a "coffeehouse friendship" with Briatore. Regarding the rumor of Bottas moving to Alpine, particularly with Alpine transitioning to using Mercedes power and gearboxes next year, he commented to motorsport-total.com: "Interesting theory. But it didn’t originate from me."

      Nelson Piquet Jr., who had a dramatic fallout with Briatore during the notorious ‘crashgate’ scandal, finds it hard to believe that Alpine is genuinely considering Bottas. "Choose a young talent, like (Felipe) Drugovich, or several from Indy, such as Paul Aron or Alex Dunne— or opt for an average driver who's been out of the loop for a while?" he expressed on social media. "FFS, the old guy running that team is worse than I thought."

      Bottas stated in Austria that he is approaching a deadline to make a decision about his future. "These matters should be wrapped up by July," he told Ilta Sanomat newspaper. "July starts next week, so it will be an intriguing month ahead."

      The Finnish driver is already strongly linked to the new-for-2026 team Cadillac, whose leader Graeme Lowdon will be present at Silverstone for discussions. When asked by Sky Deutschland if he had noticed Bottas' recent playful social media post, where he was seen touching the "nice seat" of a Cadillac road car, Lowdon replied, "I did," with a smile. "It indicates he bought a Cadillac!"

      Lowdon reportedly intends to pair an experienced driver like Bottas or Perez with a younger American rookie such as Colton Herta. "Everyone wants to drive a Cadillac," Lowdon smiled once more. "The great thing is that we are familiar with many of the drivers out there—both the younger ones coming from Formula 2 and the more seasoned drivers with extensive Formula 1 experience. We keep in touch with these individuals regularly and aim to spend time in the paddock as well. However, so far, our primary focus has been on building the car," he added. "We won’t be making any announcements at Silverstone, but stay tuned."