Valtteri Bottas has stepped forward to clarify his stance after sparking a fierce debate over Formula 1 drivers and Italian tax obligations, as Crash.net reports. Speaking on Thursday ahead of the race at Sepang, the Cadillac driver had suggested that drivers would prefer to avoid ending the 2026 season at Imola due to potential tax complications, expressing a preference for warmer and tax-free destinations like Abu Dhabi.
Those initial remarks came to light amid reports that Italy’s financial police, the Guardia di Finanza, had sent letters to F1 drivers demanding tax returns on income earned within the country. Bottas had told reporters on Thursday at Sepang that drivers would rather race somewhere warmer, noting that Abu Dhabi features no tax, though he acknowledged that the calendar was still slated for Qatar and Abu Dhabi barring any disruption from the war in the Middle East that could force Imola into action as a contingency plan.
Honestly, we have no problem with paying taxes - as long as we know,
Following subsequent criticism, Bottas returned to the topic after Friday practice at Sepang to set the record straight with Sky Sports F1. He explained that his original statements were sensationalized by selective editing, insisting that drivers genuinely harbor no objections to paying taxes in the various nations they visit as long as the rules are clear.
"Honestly, we have no problem with paying taxes - as long as we know," Bottas stated, pointing out that drivers pay percentages in more than 50 percent of the countries on the calendar without issue. The real source of frustration, according to the driver, is that authorities reached back seven or eight years to demand payments despite previous assurances that no Italian filings were necessary.
Reactions up and down the paddock varied wildly. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen delivered a characteristically blunt assessment of the situation, stating simply that there is no tax issue and that drivers simply have to pay what is owed. Meanwhile, Haas driver Ollie Bearman took a more distant view of the controversy, admitting that the complications are somewhat less relevant to him than to some of his colleagues.
