Bottas to Drive 1985 Ferrari at Adelaide Festival

Valtteri Bottas, the Finnish Formula 1 driver set to return to the grid with Cadillac next season, will take the wheel of a historic 1985 Ferrari 156/85 during a demonstration at the Adelaide Motorsport Festival on March 1, 2026. The event, held in the South Australian city that hosted the Australian Grand Prix from 1985 to 1995, offers fans a chance to see Bottas pilot the iconic turbocharged car on a section of its original street circuit.

The festival spans February 28 to March 1, serving as a nostalgic prelude to the 2026 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne the following weekend. Bottas, who turns 37 in August, will drive the #27 chassis originally raced by Michele Alboreto, the Italian driver who secured two victories that year in Canada and Germany while finishing second in the drivers' standings. Ferrari narrowly missed the constructors' championship, ending just behind McLaren. Adding to the demonstration, Stefan Johansson, Alboreto's teammate and the 1985 Australian Grand Prix's fifth-place finisher, will drive his own #28 Ferrari 156/85 alongside Bottas at 1:45 p.m. on Sunday.

Earlier that day, at 11:30 a.m., Bottas will also handle a V8-powered Holden HQ Monaro, an...