Alpine executive adviser Flavio 3 Briatore is a large-voiced and his most recent statement has set the Formula 1 paddock ablaze once again. In requesting a media briefing in Zandvoort, he stated that Alpine assisted Valtteri Bottas with a renewed contract with Cadillac, which will pilot in the championship in 2026.
Cadillac, the American-based manufacturer that seeks to leave a mark in Formula 1 has already verified that it will employ Bottas together with Sergio Perez on the track this season. To the team, it is a coup to have signed a prospective race winner and a former Mercedes astronaut. In the case of Bottas, that is the beginning of a new gloomy surprise, though most people think that his career will be discouraged once the Sauber left him at the beginning of the year 2024.
The past two years in the career of Bottas has been strange. Once let down by Sauber, the Finn went back to Mercedes, not as a race driver but a least experienced and third driver. After spending part of his time as a teammate to Lewis Hamilton during the period that the Briton was wielding his powers, the relegation to the sidelines seemingly came as a grandiose collapse. Mercedes team boss Toto, however, has left it quite obvious that Bottas was on the radar of the team. There is vast speed in Valtteri and he is, in our opinion, among the best on the grid, Wolff said. We liked having him as the third driver since we were assured that in the event something happened to our two main drivers, Valtteri would still come in to help without jeopardising his own position.
His collection of safety net to Mercedes will no longer exist since Bottas bets on the ambitious entrance of Cadillac.
However, Wolff did not feel frustrated, but incredibly proud, nearly it was paternal of Bottas next move.
We adore Valtteri and we will miss him in our camp, though our racing side rejoices in the fact that here the racer has a chance.
Cadillac is a thrilling project and I do not doubt that he will shine, he said.
What was even more interesting about this deal is the fact that it was especially the Alpine who helped to grease the wheels.
Briatore said that although Bottas had earlier been associated with a place at Alpine, a different maker which was French interviewed had a hand.
Briatore said he preferred Valtteri: Max: Very nice; he is a super driver.
he was poor luck to be at Mercedes when Lewis came there, in the ###ERROR “`is at his very best. Drivers were a varied subject in our minds but it’s good to find Valtteri in full time seat again. His experience is good, but in our case (Alpine) we are seeking something different. Saying which, we were glad to assist him in this process.
These words present an aperture of the extent to which interrelated Formula 1 politics are.
Alliances and shadow negotiations all the time are done by teams, and as Alpine helps to put Bottas where Cadillac may show that there is strategizing that can not be guessed or counted only on one driver subject.
As General Motors invests in F1 with Cadillac brand, the same teams have high incentive to establish bridges. The fact that a former world-champion team executive such as Briatore took part was just another jumble of the puzzle.
In the eyes of Bottas, the step is a savior as well as a message. He will be 36 and understands that his best in F1 is over, but he is a driver who consistently and not slowly provides one with reliability. What has frequently been omitted is not because of a want of talent, but a combination of circumstances. His years at Mercedes will ever be remembered as the Hamilton era, in which Bottas, although he won competitions and had podiums, filled the role of support. As Wolff has emphasized, Bottas was constantly demonstrating his performance by out performance every teammate except Hamilton. The gamble of Cadillac in that regard is more calculated by acquiring rather than what the gamblers refer to as risk.
Bottas was a seasoned driver with experience of what the inside of a top team is like, which makes him a suitable choice by Cadillac. He is able to not only contribute to the track but also the culture as well as the course of a newcomer. When he is paired with Perez there is a sense of balance–his partner has a long record of race winning experience and he will contribute invaluable technical feedback and a sure hand in times of high stress. In the case of Cadillac, respect is automatic with this line-up.
It is also interesting when Briatore made the remarks. His recent addition into F1 management as the executive advisor of Alpine has already rattled some feathers. Briatore has a history of merciless efficiency and sham, state maneuverings so you can find his fingerprints all over the Alpine strategy. The Bottas revelation is merely another one that his influence is not that limited to the garage of the French team.
One would question why Alpine would assist another team to get itself another driver whom it had planned to get itself. By helping Cadillac, Alpine will be granted goodwill with GM as well as the FIA, just in case it will not need to compete on some assets. The results of these gestures are usually quite bizarre, yet very positive as in the world of a sport in which alliances are changed almost as rapidly as lap times.
In case of Bottas the opportunity rather than politics is involved in the move. He will be back into the limelight after a one-season stint on the fringes at Mercedes and now will front a whole new team into the future. That responsibility can rekindle a driver who has been accused at times of being drive-less. Creating his own team would not make him go chasing third place after Hamilton or Verstappen.
There are already developing reactions about the paddock. The bold signings by Cadillac are viewed by some of its insiders as an indication by the American project that it is determined to make a splash on day one. Some others draw a warning that new team with experienced drivers copes with a heavy learning curve. Viewers seem to be fascinated by the opportunity of Bottas to remake himself in a new environment. Social-media buzz has been predominantly good, much cheering that the Finn has not become a functional neutrality.
Naturally, the action provokes a number of questions. What will this mean to the future driver plans of Alpine? Does this imply that involvement of Briatore alludes to bigger strategic moves including perhaps a later merger of Alpine with GM allowing them to join hands in certain certain technology. And what of the long-term trajectory of Bottas–will Cadillac become a launching pad to a sustainable relevance or the last chapter of a career bedrocked in endurance and near bouts?
Irrespective of the solutions, one thing remains evident: There is still much in the story about Bottas. This is in a sport that advances fast and his landing of a high profile seat with a new manufacturer demonstrates that experience and consistency count. Briatore operating in the background with this evokes in us the reflection that Formula 1 dealings are never what they appear at first glance.
In case of Cadillac, this will provide them with an opportunity of joining Formula 1 not on a token basis but rather in a genuine competitive drive. In the case of Bottas it is one of the few opportunities to leave his own history behind and take the leadership position that may enable him to translate his own history. And in the case of Alpine it is an indication of something greater–a vision that transcends short-term profits and looks back into the long-term equity/resources of building up a course in a game dominated by power plays.
The dust has still not settled but the expectation is growing. The contrast between the colors of Bottas—Cadillac colors, is one which is paradoxical though nearly ideal. Formula 1 has already changed the discussion on the future of the sport with or without podiums as the partnership wins or just a number one headline.