Mercedes are ready to continue their cooperation with Bottas.

      Mercedes are ready to continue their collaboration with Valtteri Bottas if the Finn is unable to return to the championship as a Cadillac F1 driver.

      Bottas indeed hopes the new team will sign him — he is considered one of the main contenders alongside Sergio Pérez.

      “We know Valtteri’s priority is to try to secure a race seat contract for 2026,” said Bradley Lord, head of the team’s press office at Mercedes. “He certainly has all the necessary qualities for that, and I would say he can be considered one of the primary candidates.

      But if for some reason that does not happen, then we would be open to talks about continuing our collaboration. His priorities are known to us, and we even hope that we have laid the groundwork for him to achieve his goal.

      It’s wonderful that he returned to the Mercedes family. Naturally, when he raced for our team he was a very valuable member. Upon returning, Valtteri was able to share his experience and ideas, and on race weekends he observed the team’s work as an expert, including sharing his thoughts with the engineers. He also worked on the simulator, and his contribution was very important…

      Overall, Valtteri played a very noticeable role in helping Kimi Antonelli adapt and learn to cope with the demands of Formula 1.”