Valtteri Bottas Salary 2026 on His Cadillac Return
Valtteri Bottas earns a base salary of $5m from Cadillac in 2026, his first race seat since leaving Sauber at the end of 2024. That’s half the $10m he collected in each of his previous four racing seasons, which covered his final Mercedes year and three more at Alfa Romeo and Sauber.
The comeback followed a season as Mercedes’ reserve driver. Spread over 23 Grands Prix, his new base comes to about $217k per race, and the same $5m is expected in 2027.
Lists Bottas' $5m base salary for 2026 in a grid-wide pay survey that leaves out bonuses.
Base Salary Earned in 2026$4.08m of $5m
82% of the way through 2026
Since this page loaded
BASE SALARY EARNED
$0Prorated Earnings Estimate
POTENTIAL INCOME
$0Prorated Earnings Estimate
CAREER EARNINGS
$86,320,000Prorated Earnings Estimate
These tickers illustrate calculated averages based on annual figures and are not actual payments.
What a Bonus Could Add for Bottas
A strong season could add around $2m, taking Bottas to a potential income of $7m. That’s a tall order for a new team still chasing its first point, and he and Sergio Pérez are both on zero after the United States Grand Prix.
How Much Valtteri Bottas Makes in a Year
PER MONTH
$417k
PER WEEK
$96k
PER DAY
$14k
PER HOUR
$571
Bottas’ $5m base averages $417k a month and roughly $14k a day. With the $2m bonus scenario included, the monthly figure rises to $583k and each Grand Prix is worth about $304k. These averages simply spread his annual pay across the calendar, and they aren’t the amounts Cadillac actually pays out.
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Names Didier Coton of Aces Management as Bottas' manager in a January 2026 guide to driver representation.
The Length and Value of Bottas' Cadillac Contract
Cadillac announced Bottas on August 26, 2025, naming him alongside Sergio Pérez in its first F1 line-up. The multi-year deal began with the 2026 season and is reported to run until the end of 2027, so he has two years with the new American team.
At his $5m base, those two seasons are worth about $10m before bonuses. That’s a modest sum next to his Mercedes years, but it brought him back to racing after a season on the sidelines, and it gives Cadillac an experienced driver for both of its first two years on the grid.
His second season is now in doubt. Swiss newspaper Blick reported in October that Cadillac may not keep both of its drivers, and The Race reported on October 24 that the team hasn’t finalized its 2027 line-up and that Bottas, not Pérez, is the one at risk. Pérez leads him 13-9 in qualifying this year. Test driver Colton Herta is the main name linked with the seat, although he’s one point short of the 40 superlicence points he needs, and Yuki Tsunoda’s representatives have reportedly contacted the team. Because Bottas is signed through 2027, replacing him would need an arrangement with him, and no payout figure has been reported. Team principal Marcin Budkowski said driver news would come “by official releases from the team when the time is right.”
Bottas earned $797k as a Williams rookie in 2013 and reached eight-figure salaries at Mercedes and Alfa Romeo. Each stint below covers one chapter of that career, with the pay and points that came with it. Those earnings sit behind his estimated $40m net worth.
2026
Cadillac
$5m
Back With a New Team
▾
POTENTIAL INCOME
$7m
AGE
36
TEAM
Cadillac
Cadillac’s $5m salary is half what he last earned as a race driver, but it returned him to the grid for the team’s debut season. Points have been scarce, and he and Sergio Pérez are both on zero after the United States Grand Prix.
SEASON
AGE
BASE SALARY
POTENTIAL INCOME
POINTS
POS
2026
36
$5m
$7m
0
22
2025
Mercedes (reserve)
$0
A Year in Reserve
▾
POTENTIAL INCOME
$0
AGE
35
TEAM
Mercedes (reserve)
Sauber replaced him with Gabriel Bortoleto, so he went back to Mercedes as reserve driver and earned no race salary. The role kept him inside a top team’s operation until Cadillac confirmed him for 2026 in August.
SEASON
AGE
BASE SALARY
POTENTIAL INCOME
POINTS
POS
2025
35
$0
$0
0
2022-2024
Alfa Romeo and Sauber
$10m
Top Pay, Fading Results
▾
POTENTIAL INCOME
$10m
AGE
32-34
TEAM
Alfa Romeo and Sauber
Alfa Romeo matched his final Mercedes salary at $10m, and the pay held for three seasons. The results didn’t. He scored 49 points in 2022, then 10 in 2023 and none at all with Sauber in 2024.
SEASON
AGE
BASE SALARY
POTENTIAL INCOME
POINTS
POS
2024
34
$10m
$10m
0
22
2023
33
$10m
$10m
10
15
2022
32
$10m
$10m
49
10
2017-2021
Mercedes
$6.78m-12m
Ten Wins Alongside Hamilton
▾
POTENTIAL INCOME
$6.78m-12m
AGE
27-31
TEAM
Mercedes
Mercedes paid $6.78m in his first season, a reported $8m in 2019 and 2020 and $10m in 2021, with 2018 estimated at $12m. He won 10 races, finished runner-up twice and helped the team to five constructors’ titles.
SEASON
AGE
BASE SALARY
POTENTIAL INCOME
POINTS
POS
2021
31
$10m
$10m
226
3
2020
30
$8m
$8m
223
2
2019
29
$8m
$8m
326
2
2018
28
$12m
$12m
247
5
2017
27
$6.78m
$6.78m
305
3
2013-2016
Williams
$797k-3.32m
Nine Podiums on Modest Pay
▾
POTENTIAL INCOME
$797k-3.32m
AGE
23-26
TEAM
Williams
Williams started him on about $797k and raised his pay each year to $3.32m by 2016. His best season came in 2014, when 186 points and six podiums put him fourth in the championship.
SEASON
AGE
BASE SALARY
POTENTIAL INCOME
POINTS
POS
2016
26
$3.32m
$3.32m
85
8
2015
25
$2.22m
$2.22m
136
5
2014
24
$1.33m
$1.33m
186
4
2013
23
$797k
$797k
4
17
2012
Williams
No F1 salary
Learning on Fridays
▾
POTENTIAL INCOME
No F1 salary
AGE
TEAM
Williams
Fresh from winning the GP3 title, he spent 2012 as Williams’ reserve and drove in 15 Friday practice sessions. There was no race salary to report, but Williams promoted him to a race seat for 2013.
A January 2024 estimate of his $10m salary for his last season at Sauber, with no bonus disclosed.
The Case for Bottas at $5m
Cadillac wanted experience for its debut season, and Bottas brought 264 Grand Prix starts for a $5m salary.
A race winner at a modest price. The 10 wins and 20 poles in his F1 career stats cost Cadillac half of the $10m it pays Sergio Pérez.
Mercedes know-how. Five seasons as a Mercedes race driver and another as its reserve showed him how a championship-winning team operates.
Used to hard seasons. His years at Alfa Romeo and Sauber, including a scoreless 2024, mean a slow start with a new team is familiar ground.
A proven qualifier. His 20 career poles give Cadillac a benchmark for one-lap pace.
A short commitment. A deal to the end of 2027 gives the team experience through its first two seasons for about $10m in base salary.
Bottas Earns Half as Much as Pérez
Bottas earns half of Sergio Pérez’s $10m base, and the gap narrows only slightly with bonus scenarios included, at $7m against $11.5m. Neither driver has scored for Cadillac yet, so nothing on track separates them after the United States Grand Prix, and Pérez remains the better-paid half of the new pairing.
Cadillac pays Valtteri Bottas a base salary of $5m in 2026, or about $217k per race. A strong season could add around $2m in bonuses and lift his potential income to $7m, although the new team has yet to score a point. His base should stay at $5m in 2027, the last year of the deal.
Valtteri Bottas makes about $417k a month from his $5m Cadillac base salary in 2026, or roughly $14k a day. With the $2m bonus scenario included, his monthly figure rises to $583k.
These averages simply spread his annual pay across the calendar, and they aren’t the amounts Cadillac actually pays out.
Valtteri Bottas earned a $10m base salary at Alfa Romeo in both 2022 and 2023, and he stayed on $10m in 2024 when the team raced as Sauber. His best season there was 2022, when he scored 49 points and finished 10th, but he failed to score at all in 2024.
Valtteri Bottas is contracted to Cadillac until the end of 2027. The team announced him on August 26, 2025 on a multi-year deal that began in 2026, so it covers two seasons. At his $5m base, the contract is worth about $10m before bonuses. Swiss newspaper Blick reported in October that Cadillac may not keep both Bottas and Sergio Pérez for 2027, and The Race reported on October 24 that Bottas’ seat is the one in doubt, with test driver Colton Herta a possible replacement. Replacing him would mean paying out what reports call a multi-million dollar contract. Cadillac hasn’t confirmed any change, and no payout figure has been reported.
Across five seasons at Mercedes, Valtteri Bottas earned $6.78m-12m a year from 2017 to 2021. His reported salary was $8m in 2019 and 2020 and $10m in his final season, while the $12m for 2018 is a rougher estimate. Today he earns $5m at Cadillac.
Williams
