Photo: Red Bull Content Pool

F1 LIVE | Bottas makes Ferrari switch, ex-driver picks Verstappen over Hamilton

09:05, 08 Jan

bySamson Ero

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LiveBlog

Bottas makes Ferrari switch

Valtteri Bottas will take to the track at the Adelaide Motorsport Festival, driving the 1985 Ferrari 156/85.

The Ferrari 156/85 is the car that carried Michele Alboreto into a season-long title battle with Alain Prost, one that saw the Italian ultimately finish runner-up in the championship.

Across the 1985 campaign, Alboreto claimed one win, at the Canadian Grand Prix, alongside eight podiums and a total of 69 points, staying firmly in the title hunt until late in the year, before persistent turbo-engine reliability issues brought his challenge to an end.

Valtteri Bottas is set to hit the track in a Ferrari - Photo: Race Pictures

Adelaide also hosted the showdown of the 1985 season, with the Australian city remaining on the Formula 1 calendar until 1996, the year Albert Park made its debut, a venue that remains one of the sport’s calendar mainstays to this day.

The Finnish driver is not the only Cadillac driver recently involved with a Ferrari car, as teammate Sergio Perez also hit the track in a 2023 Ferrari car for a test at the Imola circuit. The American outfit also recently announced the signing of Chinese driver Zhou Ganyu from the Ferrari outfit.

Coulthard picks Verstappen over Hamilton

Former McLaren and Red Bull Racing driver David Coulthard has opted for Max Verstappen over Lewis Hamilton in a recent interview.

The 54-year-old, who won 13 races across a career spanning over a decade, chose the four-time world champion, highlighting that Verstappen remains in his development phase compared to Hamilton, whom he believes is already towards the end of his stellar career.

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen - Photo: Red Bull Content Pool

Coulthard also highlighted how expressive Verstappen often is about issues during race sessions. The Briton also praised Hamilton before ultimately settling for the Dutch driver.

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