Bottas slams rumours over F1 future as ‘complete bull****’ fabricated for ‘headlines and clicks’

Valtteri Bottas has brushed off recent speculation over his future in Formula 1, describing stories that appeared after the Canadian Grand Prix as “complete bull****”.

Bottas is in the early stages of his F1 return with 2026 newcomers Cadillac, having spent the 2025 season as a Mercedes reserve driver after losing his seat at Kick Sauber.

He has slotted alongside fellow experienced racer Sergio Perez, who comfortably led Cadillac’s charge during the Montreal Sprint weekend – the Mexican lapping the best part of a second quicker than Bottas in both Qualifying sessions.

After the event, rumours swirled around social media – and spread to news outlets – suggesting that Bottas’ place at the team was already under review, given Perez’s apparent performance advantage.

However, Bottas was quick to shut down the internet gossip as he met with the media in Monaco, saying: “It’s not the first time I’ve faced those kind of rumours. It’s a bit of a shame that somebody just makes up complete b******t, but that’s normal in this sport.

“I know my situation, the team knows my situation, and they support me 100%, so that’s why from my side it was okay in the end.”

Pushed on what might have been behind the reports, the 10-time Grand Prix winner said: “Headlines. Clicks. That’s my theory.”

He added: “I was actually having my morning coffee, and when I saw the first rumour I kind of laughed about it.

“That’s the kind of negative side of this sport sometimes. Sometimes people just want to make rumours to write stuff and make up stuff. I’ve learned it’s part of it, and it doesn’t really affect me anymore.”

Speculation over his future aside, Bottas also pointed out that Cadillac have potentially found some answers as to why he was significantly down on pace in Canada compared to Perez.

“We still have later this afternoon another meeting, but I caught up with the team last week about it and we can see issues, both on the power unit side and the car build side,” he explained.

“That’s as much as I can give you, but we can see reasons, which is good to see. We need to keep working on the quality of how we build the car, how we fit all the parts, and so on.”

Looking ahead to the challenge of Monaco, and the potential for Cadillac to score the best result of their F1 adventure so far, Bottas said: “This weekend always is an opportunity for everyone. As an example, remember some years ago, Jules Bianchi got his points for Marussia here. Things like that can happen.

“For sure, you’ve got to try and qualify well, but then even in the race you never know what happens. We take it as a nice opportunity ahead.”