Valtteri Bottas makes his Mercedes return in F1 2025 in a reserve role, with the Finn securing a stay in the paddock after losing his Sauber drive.
Having moved away from Mercedes to join Sauber after the former decided to bring in George Russell to partner Lewis Hamilton, Bottas will make his return to the F1 team in 2025 after signing a reserve deal, which was being reported widely towards the end of the 2024 season.
Mercedes has lost Hamilton to Ferrari, while Mick Schumacher has decided to move out of the reserve role as well. Bottas fits well in the scheme of things to help Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli. “I’m happy to finally answer the question I’ve posed over the past month,” he said.
“Returning home to the Mercedes family as Third Driver for 2025 is what’s next and I couldn’t be more pleased. I want to thank Toto, the team at Brackley, and everyone at the three-pointed star for welcoming me back with open arms. Despite the challenges of the past few years, I know that I’ve still got so much more to contribute to F1.
“Since I was a five-year-old kid growing up in Nastola, Finland, my focus has been on achieving success in the top tier of motorsport. I’ve been fortunate to have enjoyed many incredible moments in my 12 years of racing in F1 so far. As I return to the place where so many of those moments were achieved, I’m looking forward to using all the knowledge I’ve gained to help the team to perform and progress towards our goal of fighting for world championships.”
At the same time, Toto Wolff added: “Welcome home, Valtteri! It’s great to have you back. His impact and contribution in the five years he was with us previously as our race driver was immense. Along with scoring multiple Grands Prix wins, he played a vital role in five of our championship victories. His technical feedback and input were important in helping us to those successes and pushing the team forward.
“Not only that, but he was also a fantastic colleague and team member. His dry sense of humour and personable nature made him a firm favourite with everyone at Brackley and Brixworth. In his role as Reserve Driver, all those qualities will be incredibly important in helping us compete for world championships and supporting both George and Kimi on track.”
F1, Crypto (as per press release) –
Formula 1 has today announced that it is extending its relationship with Crypto.com through to 2030. The two brands have worked together since 2021, and the renewal marks their continued commitment to the growth and value the partnership delivers for both parties. Those years have also witnessed seismic growth in Formula 1, which now has a cumulative TV audience of 1.5bn viewers watching its Grands Prix, 750m global fans, and 96m followers across social media, while Crypto.com has also grown its user base more than tenfold to over 100 million users globally.
Through the renewed partnership, Crypto.com will focus on the creation of exclusive fan experiences and activations at a range of Grands Prix, with the brand also featuring at key races throughout the season. Crypto.com has also been the Official Title Partner of the Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix since its inaugural race in 2022 and will continue that partnership.
Emily Prazer, Chief Commercial Officer at Formula 1, said: “We’ve enjoyed a great partnership with Crypto.com since 2021 and this extension will make them one of our longest-term partners. Our sport has changed significantly in that time, so we’re delighted to have them continue with us until 2030 and we look forward to seeing how they engage with fans through their race activations.”
Steven Kalifowitz, Chief Marketing Officer of Crypto.com, said: “Formula 1 was one of our first global sports partnerships and a key driver in elevating Crypto.com to the most recognized crypto brand in the world. We are as bullish as ever about the future of crypto. We can confidently say crypto is here to stay, and we are excited to keep the momentum going with Formula 1.”
Here’s Valtteri Bottas donating his hair strand
Here’s Lewis Hamilton on awkward Mercedes time
Here’s Rwanda wanting a F1 race
Here’s how FIA Prize Gala go in Rwanda
Here’s provisional F1 2025 entry list
Here’s revised F1 2026 car
Here’s link to a F1 Discord channel, join in to interact
