Valtteri Bottas will return to Mercedes as reserve driver for the 2025 F1 season, Afrosport reports.
The Finn’s return to Mercedes was heavily muted having failed to secure a seat with Sauber next year.
Bottas spent five years at Mercedes between 2017 and 2021 alongside Lewis Hamilton.
The 35-year-old will be hoping to remain in the spotlight at Mercedes as he looks to get back on the grid in 2026.
“I’m happy to finally answer the question I’ve posed over the past month,” he told the Mercedes F1 website. “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.”
BREAKING: Valtteri Bottas returns to Mercedes
He will take the role of reserve driver at the Silver Arrows #F1 pic.twitter.com/q82DZI8ZIm
— Formula 1 (@F1) December 19, 2024
Bottas will hope to have a permanent F1 seat in 2026 after missing out on the Audi project. He might however have a chance with Cadillac set to join the grid as the 11th F1 team.
