Bottas swats away ‘complete bull****’ gossip on F1 future

Ahead of this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix, Valtteri Bottas has rubbished the lingering rumors regarding his future in F1, describing the gossip as “complete bullshit”.

The Cadillac driver, only just re-entering the F1 ecosystem after his Mercedes reserve stint in 2025, found himself at the centre of paddock chatter after a difficult Montreal weekend.

His teammate, Sergio Perez, significantly quicker across qualifying sessions, naturally fuelled comparisons – and, inevitably, speculation.

Bottas, though, has heard it all before. And he’s bored of it.

Meeting the media in Monaco, the Finn didn’t bother polishing the edges of his response. If anything, he sharpened them.

“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,” he said.

“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.”

There was no hesitation, no diplomatic cushioning – just a blunt dismissal of a narrative he believes was constructed more for engagement than accuracy.

And when asked what might be driving the chatter, Bottas didn’t point fingers at rivals or teams. He pointed at the modern paddock’s favourite currency: attention.

“Headlines. Clicks. That’s my theory,” he said.

“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.”

Cadillac’s real homework is not the rumour mill

Behind the noise, Bottas insists Cadillac are already digging into the real story behind his pace deficit in Canada.

“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.”

For all the speculation about internal pressure, Bottas’ message is that the team is focused inward – not on social media discourse.

And as for Monaco, the Finn is quietly eyeing a more productive weekend in a place where chaos often overrides logic.

“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,” he said.

“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.”

If the paddock wants drama, Bottas seems content to leave it to others. He’s already moved on –preferably before his coffee gets cold.

• Read also: Cadillac admits team’s first Monaco GP is ‘massive challenge

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