Mercedes reserve driver Valtteri Bottas has confirmed that the Brackley outfit will not stand in his way should some early work come through for the Cadillac Formula 1 team.

The Finnish driver is set to join former Red Bull driver Sergio Perez at the American outfit for its debut year in the championship in 2026.

While Bottas is currently under contract with Mercedes as a reserve driver, he explained to Crash.net that talks have already taken place between Mercedes chief Toto Wolff and Cadillac team principal Graeme Lowdon.

“There has been talks. I think Graeme [Lowdon, Cadillac team principal] and Toto [Wolff, Mercedes team principal and CEO], they've been in talks as well," Bottas explained.

"Mercedes has been really supportive on the transition, so I don't think they're going to block me in any way.

“There's been already discussions between me and Cadillac with online meetings and stuff like that, which I'm allowed to do and that's fine.

"Everyone understands that there's a lot of work to do and there's already some driver feedback that they need for certain things.

"Obviously, I'll start with Cadillac in January, but there will be a few things I could do here and there before that.”

“I think simulator stuff, I think that’s something actually Mercedes and Cadillac are going to speak [about] this weekend. So I can let you know later,” Bottas said.

“But I have had a visit at the Silverstone facility already - just had a quick look. Stuff like that. So yeah, I'll be doing some stuff.”

After visiting Cadillac's headquarters in Silverstone, Bottas was pleased to see the progress that the team has already made.

“Yeah. I didn't actually expect everything to be that advanced. But I guess they started quite a while ago," he continued.

“There's obviously still lots of work to do but what I've seen so far has been impressive and gives me more confidence for the future.”

Cadillac will enter its debut season as the 11th team on the F1 grid with an experienced driver line-up, but Lowdon is remaining realistic about his hopes for the team's entry into the championship.

"If a new team were to come in and immediately be competitive against them, then you'd be pretty upset and pretty angry," Lowdon told F1.com. "And so, we know it's a huge challenge. It's very difficult to quantify what success can look like other than we just have to execute as well as we possibly can and gain respect from the other competitors.

"I think that's always the first target because, if we do that, then we know that we will be doing a good job."

In the London High Court last week, Indycar champion Alex Palou alleged that McLaren CEO Zak Brown privately admitted he had not wanted Piastri in the orange car at all. I went for dinner with Zak at Beaverbrook near MTC, Palou told the court.

Zak told me it was not his decision to hire Oscar. He said it was the decision of the (former) team manager, Andreas Seidl.

...Speaking publicly at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, Prost detailed how he was central in helping Piastri break into top-line motorsport. In his capacity as Alpine’s non-executive director, Prost was the driving force behind pushing Renault to sign the talented Australian to its academy program in 2020, despite initial reluctance from the French outfit’s management.

Prost said he recognized Piastri’s intelligence and race craft back in his junior days and was insistent that Renault not miss the opportunity, especially after watching him excel in Formula 3 and Formula 2.

According to Prost, Piastri reminded him of himself, citing the McLaren driver’s ability to execute overtakes with timing and cunning. That kind of race awareness—choosing the right moment, the right corner, the right risk—is a hallmark of Prost’s own storied career, earning him the nickname “The Professor” in his peak F1 years....