Valtteri Viktor Bottas (; born 28 August 1989) is a Finnish racing driver who competes in Formula One for Cadillac. Bottas has twice finished runner-up in the World Drivers' Championship in and with Mercedes, and has won 10 Grands Prix across 13 seasons.
Born and raised in Nastola, Bottas began kart racing aged six. After studying automotive engineering and completing mandatory military service, Bottas progressed to junior formulae in 2007. He won his first championship at the Formula Renault NEC in 2008, also winning the Formula Renault Eurocup by three points to Daniel Ricciardo, both with Motopark. He then won the Masters of Formula 3 back-to-back in 2009 and 2010 with ART, before winning the GP3 Series in 2011. After two years as a test driver, Bottas signed for Williams in to partner Pastor Maldonado, making his Formula One debut at the . In , he finished fourth in the championship, taking his maiden career podium at the . Across four seasons at Williams, Bottas finished on the podium nine times.
Bottas signed for Mercedes in , replacing the retiring Nico Rosberg to partner Lewis Hamilton. He took his maiden pole position in Bahrain and his maiden win in Russia, finishing third in the championship following further victories in Austria and Abu Dhabi. After a winless campaign, Bottas finished runner-up to Hamilton in both the and seasons. He took his final win for Mercedes at the in , leaving at the end of the season after contributing to five consecutive World Constructors' Championships. He joined Alfa Romeo in , retaining his seat for his campaign. After a non-scoring season at the re-branded Sauber, Bottas returned to Mercedes as a reserve driver. He became a full-time driver again for the 2026 season, driving for Cadillac.
Bottas has achieved race wins, pole positions, fastest laps and podiums in Formula One. He is the driver with the second most career points without a World Drivers' Championship ().
Early life Valtteri Viktor Bottas was born on 28 August 1989 in Nastola, Finland, to Rauno Bottas and Marianne Välimaa. His father owns a small cleaning company, and his mother is an undertaker. Bottas studied automotive engineering in a vocational school in Heinola and graduated as an auto mechanic. He completed mandatory military service in the in Lahti. His military rank is lance corporal.
Junior racing career
Karting Bottas's interest in motorsport was sparked at the age of six by a chance visit to a karting event that he had seen advertised at his local supermarket while shopping with his grandfather. His racing hero while growing up was compatriot Mika Häkkinen.
Bottas finished eighth in the 2005 Karting World Cup for the P.D.B. Racing Team, using a Gillard chassis and Parilla engines.
Lower formulae Bottas won both the 2008 Formula Renault Eurocup and the 2008 Formula Renault Northern European Cup. In doing so, he repeated the feat of Filipe Albuquerque, who won both the NEC and Eurocup in the same season, in 2006.
Bottas would have also won the 2007 Formula Renault UK Winter Series, had he been holding an MSA-registered licence for the championship. This did not stop him from competing, and he won three out of the four races in the championship.
Formula Three Bottas moved up into the Formula Three Euroseries for the 2009 season, competing for reigning champions ART Grand Prix. Despite not winning a race, Bottas set two pole positions on his way to third in the championship, edging out future BMW i Andretti Motorsport driver Alexander Sims at the final race. In June 2009, Bottas won the 2009 Masters of Formula 3, also claiming the pole position and setting the fastest lap of the race. By winning the event again in 2010, he became the first driver to win the F3 Masters title for the second time.
In 2011, Bottas contested the GP3 Series, remaining with F3 squad ART. After a tough start to the season, he claimed a win in each of the last four race weekends and secured the title by winning the penultimate race ahead of his teammate and future Jaguar Racing driver James Calado.
Formula One career Williams (2010–2016) 2010–2012: Test and reserve driver
Bottas was signed as the official Formula One test driver for the Williams team in January 2010 after his first year in the Formula 3 Euro Series. Team principal Frank Williams praised Bottas's record in the junior categories and expressed his hope that the role would "provide him with another step in his development". He conducted straight-line aerodynamic testing in the team's FW32 during the year. He continued in the role for 2011 and took part in his first full test in November, driving the FW33 in the post-season young drivers' test at Yas Marina Circuit. His role was expanded in 2012 after his GP3 Series victory; he took part in fifteen Friday practice sessions, making his Grand Prix weekend debut at the .
2013: Debut season
In November 2012, it was announced that Bottas would replace Bruno Senna and partner Pastor Maldonado as a full-time Williams race driver for the season. He qualified 16th, ahead of Maldonado, and finished 14th at his debut race, the . He improved from 18th on the grid to 11th at the finish at the , 1.5 seconds behind a points-paying position. He qualified third at the behind Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton, the first time a Williams car had qualified in the top ten that year. He was unable to hold the position in the race and dropped to 14th at the finish line. He later stated that "the car pace was just not there" and that he believed the result would have been the same regardless of the team's strategy. A hydraulics failure at the caused his first retirement of the season whilst Maldonado finished tenth to claim the team's first point of 2013. Bottas qualified ninth and finished eighth at the , his first Formula One points and the team's best result of the season. He collided with Hamilton whilst unlapping himself at the season-ending , later stating he was unaware Hamilton was a lap ahead.
Bottas ended his debut season 17th in the World Drivers' Championship, scoring four of Williams's five points. He qualified ahead of Maldonado at twelve of the nineteen races and was praised for his performances at the Canadian and United States Grands Prix.
2014: First podiums
Bottas was retained by Williams for the season, partnering Felipe Massa who was signed from Ferrari. At the season-opening , Bottas started fifteenth due to a gearbox change penalty and clipped the wall causing a tyre puncture in the race, but recovered to sixth at the finish and was later promoted to fifth after Daniel Ricciardo's disqualification. He received another grid penalty and started 18th at the next race, the , for impeding Ricciardo in qualifying, but gained places to finish eighth. He matched his best grid position at the , starting third, but dropped to eighth at the finish. He praised the team's updates to his FW36 after finishing fifth at the and felt that the team now had the third-fastest car, however this was followed by 13th place in qualifying and an engine failure at the .
At the , Bottas qualified second behind teammate Massa, his then-best grid position in Formula One and Williams's first front-row lockout since the 2003 German Grand Prix. Both drivers were passed by the Mercedes cars during the race, but Bottas held on to third place to achieve his first podium in the sport. Despite starting 14th at the , Bottas made overtakes and benefited from Nico Rosberg's retirement to take another podium finish in second place. He then qualified and finished second at the despite a late challenge from Lewis Hamilton, his third consecutive podium. He was in second place on the opening lap of the , but lost positions due to unfortunate safety car timing and a slow pit stop. This was followed by another podium at the after passing Kimi Räikkönen for third place in the closing laps. Bottas qualified third at the . Wheelspin dropped him to 11th at the start, but he recovered to fourth place at the finish. Tyre wear dropped him outside the points positions at the , the only time in 2014 he would finish a race outside the top ten. Another podium came at the where Bottas started and finished third, as well as setting the race's fastest lap. He qualified fourth at the but two slow pit stops relegated him to tenth place. He finished third behind Massa at the season-ending , Williams's first double-podium since the 2005 Monaco Grand Prix.
The 2014 season ended with Bottas fourth in the World Drivers' Championship, ahead of world champions Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso. He claimed six podium finishes and scored 186 points to Massa's 134, securing Williams third place in the World Constructors' Championship (the team's best result since ), and qualified ahead of Massa at thirteen of the nineteen races. Sky Sports wrote that his performances had "impress[ed] greatly" and he was described by Motorsport.com as being "often the quickest non-Mercedes driver".
2015
In September 2014, it was announced that Bottas and Massa would retain their drives with Williams for the season. Bottas qualified sixth at the season-opening , but suffered a back injury and was taken to The Alfred Hospital for precautionary checks. Scans found that he had "suffered a very small tear in the annular part of a disc in his lower back" and was deemed unfit to race. He returned to racing at the where he started ninth and recovered from a poor start to finish fifth. He scored points at the following three races including fourth-place finishes at the Bahrain and Spanish Grands Prix, but failed to score at the after qualifying 17th. His first of two podiums in 2015 came at the , where he qualified fourth and benefited from a spin for Kimi Räikkönen to finish third. He qualified fourth behind Massa at the and the two drivers progressed to first and second place in the opening laps. Bottas later commented that he "would have been able to pull a gap" had Massa conceded his position, but the two ultimately dropped back to fourth and fifth by the end. Despite this, the result promoted Bottas to fourth place in the World Drivers' Championship.
Bottas qualified sixth at the but fell outside the top ten after Max Verstappen collided with the rear of his car. His best qualifying position of the season thus far came at the where he started third, but he was handed a drive-through penalty when his team erroneously fitted his car with two different tyre compounds during a pit stop. He went on to finish ninth. He was on course to finish third at the before Räikkönen collided with him on the final lap of the race. Räikkönen received a penalty for the collision but was unapologetic, and Bottas described the incident as "disappointing". This was followed by another retirement due to a suspension failure at the . At the , a DRS fault caused Bottas to crash in practice. He qualified sixth and made up places to finish third, his second and final podium of the season. A collision with Jenson Button in the pit lane at the dropped Bottas outside the points, having started sixth.
Bottas ended his third year in Formula One fifth in the World Drivers' Championship, scoring 136 points to Massa's 121 and helping Williams retain third place in the World Constructors' Championship. An Autosport poll of the Formula One team principals ranked him the seventh-best driver of the year.
2016