Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes and McLaren test and reserve driver. [Credits: X/ Valtteri Bottas]

Valtteri Bottas Becomes the New Reserve Driver for McLaren F1

Valtteri Bottas tests a Mercedes powered car but not in Silver colors.

Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes and McLaren test and reserve driver. [Credits: X/ Valtteri Bottas]

Valtteri Bottas is a multiple-race winning driver of Formula 1. He was with Mercedes F1 team from 2015 to 2022, partnering Lewis Hamilton. Bottas was known for his ability to help Hamilton and score points for the team on equal grounds. In some ways, he was the second driver to Lewis Hamilton that Red Bull wish they had for Max Verstappen. Bottas raced for Sauber during the 2023 and 2024 F1 seasons. He could not bring in any extraordinary performances and was often eliminated in Q1 during qualifying sessions. Valtteri Bottas was replaced at Sauber ahead of the 2025 season. The Finnish winner is sitting out the 2025 season as a reserve driver for his previous team. Mercedes announced his arrival just ahead of the 2025 season.

Valtteri Bottas is still a part of Mercedes’s F1 ambitions. However, in a recent post shared by him, Bottas was seen driving another car on the 2025 grid. He was seen in the Papaya colors testing McLaren’s car for them. This recent development has made fans ponder- is Valtteri Bottas switching to McLaren? Let’s take a look at the current situation in order to determine the secret behind Bottas’s session with McLaren.

Valtteri Bottas Races a McLaren 2023 F1 Car

McLaren is the power unit customer of Mercedes AMG. As a part of the agreement between these customers, McLaren and Mercedes share access to each other’s drivers and resources in order to tackle emergency situations. McLaren have a reserve driver for themselves- Pat O Ward. However, Pato is currently involved in his IndyCar career and he can’t take part in any test with McLaren. As such, Mercedes have loaned Valtteri Bottas to McLaren in order to complete their TPC test. Bottas won’t be running their latest car. Instead, he will be behind the wheel of the 2023 McLaren.

Nice to be back with Mercedes power today 👀 pic.twitter.com/ph9m2cAS6S
— Valtteri Bottas (@ValtteriBottas) March 27, 2025

McLaren had a similar arrangement with Mercedes’s Mick Schumacher, when Mick was the reserve driver for Mercedes F1 team in 2023. As a test and reserve driver, Bottas tested McLaren’s car at the Circuit de Barcelona, Catalunya in Spain. F1 has allowed teams with merely 20 days of testing days in their TPC tests. As such, McLaren’s best solution was to use Valtteri Bottas. He already has his seat fitting due to years of F1 experience. Also, Bottas helped Mercedes throughout the years in developing their car. He brought in handy points, podiums and even wins for the team. Using Bottas as a replacement for their current test and reserve driver, McLaren can gain the maximum benefits possible. McLaren will also try to use Mercedes’s Frederik Vesti in the upcoming days of testing.

Formula 1

Formula 1 2025 Season

McLaren F1

Mercedes Formula 1 Team

Valtteri Bottas

Rohan Singh

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I work as a Writer at The Playoffs specialising in NHL, Formula 1 and Motorsports. I got into online journalism a couple of years ago. I used to be an intern for a website managing their Formula 1 content and then I served an entire year as a contractual writer.