The 10-time grand prix winner is set to headline the 2026 Repco Adelaide Motorsport Festival on Sunday, March 1, where he will pilot a Ferrari 156/85 during demonstration runs through Victoria Park.
The appearance comes one week before Bottas lines up at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne as part of Cadillac’s debut F1 campaign.
Despite spending his entire F1 career racing against Ferrari-powered rivals, the Adelaide run will mark the first time Bottas has driven a Ferrari F1 car.
He will take the wheel of the #27 156/85, a machine with deep historical significance as part of the first F1 season to feature the Australian Grand Prix on Adelaide’s streets.
The Ferrari 156/85 enjoyed a competitive 1985 campaign, scoring two victories through Michele Alboreto in Canada and Germany as Ferrari finished second in the constructors’ championship behind McLaren.
Alboreto’s team-mate Stefan Johansson added two second-place finishes in Canada and Detroit, while René Arnoux also briefly raced the car, finishing fourth in the Brazilian Grand Prix before departing the team after a single appearance.
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Johansson will also feature in Adelaide, driving his own #28 Ferrari 156/85 in the same Sunday afternoon demonstration, giving fans a rare chance to see two examples of the iconic turbo-era Ferrari running together.
Bottas’ festival schedule will also include an expression run in a V8-powered Holden HQ Monaro earlier in the day, adding a distinctly Australian flavour to his on-track appearances.
Off track, he will meet fans at the Adelaide Marriott Grand Marquee as part of his role as event ambassador.
The Adelaide outing serves as a symbolic bridge between Bottas’ recent past and immediate future. After leaving Sauber at the end of the 2024 season, the Finn spent 2025 as Mercedes’ test and reserve driver, biding his time before securing a full-time return with Cadillac for the sweeping new regulations in 2026.
The Repco Adelaide Motorsport Festival will once again feature a packed program spanning F1 cars, V8 Supercars, sports cars, touring cars, motorcycles and drift machinery, with continuous on-track action across the day.
Tickets for the March 1 event are on sale now.
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