Valtteri Bottas is returning to Mercedes as the team’s new reserve driver for the 2025 season.
The experienced Finn has been left without a race seat on next year’s Formula 1 grid after being released by Sauber and had been expected to return to Mercedes, where he won 10 races as team-mate to Lewis Hamilton from 2017 to 2021.
Bottas replaces Mick Schumacher in the reserve driver role after the German announced his exit from the team last month to pursue other opportunities in motorsport.
With Hamilton leaving the team for Ferrari, 18-year-old Italian Andrea Kimi Antonelli has been handed the vacant race seat next to George Russell.
“I’m happy to finally answer the question I’ve posed over the past month. Returning home to the Mercedes family as third driver for 2025 is what’s next and I couldn’t be more pleased,” said Bottas.
“I want to thank Toto [Wolff], 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.”
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