It has been revealed that Valtteri Bottas has been behind the wheel of a McLaren, at a test session in Spain.
Bottas took part in a TPC (testing of previous car) outing, driving McLaren’s 2023 car, the MCL60, round the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
The Finnish driver currently holds the role of Mercedes reserve driver, after losing his Sauber seat at the end of 2024.
He took over from Mick Schumacher, who had been in Mercedes’ third driver position since the beginning of 2023, as the German looks to continue his endurance racing career.
Mercedes currently supply McLaren’s engines, and as part of that agreement, the reigning Constructers’ Champions get access to Mercedes’ driver pool.
Bottas could be called upon by McLaren
It is believed that the reason for Bottas’ test session is to allow the veteran driver to familiarise himself with the McLaren.
If both Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are unable to compete at a Grand Prix, then Bottas is one of the drivers that Zak Brown could potentially call upon.
However, despite media speculation, there is no truth to the rumours that Bottas will be taking the reserve driver seat at McLaren.
Pato O’Ward, who is signed to the McLaren driver development programme, is currently the official third driver, and has driven in practice sessions in previous years.
As well as driving for McLaren over in IndyCar, O’Ward has also appeared in a Free Practice 1 session for the F1 team, in each of the last three seasons.
Bottas involved in every race
Reserve drivers are often not present at every single race weekend throughout the F1 season, due to other commitments in different racing series’.
However, Bottas has been at both the Australian GP and the Chinese GP, and has stated that he will be at all 24 races this season.
In an open letter on the Mercedes website, he said: “As the third driver, I’ll be at every race, involved with everything to do with performance on and off track.
“I’ll be getting stuck into data, looking at George and Kimi’s onboards, providing that extra pair of eyes. Hopefully, I can keep driving and do some testing too.
“At the factory, I’ll be in the simulator lots, doing development work for the W16. I’ve been getting up to speed with everything so far, learning about the new car and the plans for it this season.”
