Valtteri Bottas Cadillac stolen, FBI investigates

Valtteri Bottas said on May 14 that a Cadillac Escalade supplied to him by his Formula 1 team was stolen from the driveway of his Airbnb during the Miami Grand Prix weekend. Bottas said the theft happened while he was staying in Fort Lauderdale for the May 1-3 race weekend in South Florida, rather than in Miami itself. He disclosed the episode on his “What’s Next?” podcast and said the case drew FBI involvement because his paddock pass and VIP parking permit were still inside the vehicle. (motorsport.com) Motorsport.com first reported the account on Thursday. (f1miamigp.com) ### Why did the theft draw federal attention? Bottas said the stolen Escalade contained credentials tied to Formula 1 access, not just the vehicle itself. He told Motorsport.com that his paddock pass and VIP parking pass were left in the car, which he said prompted the FBI to get involved in the investigation. The FBI’s role, as described by Bottas and repeated by multiple motorsport outlets, appears tied to the security implications of those credentials during a live race weekend. (motorsport.com) Bottas said the car was taken before he left for Saturday’s sprint-day activities, creating an immediate concern about who might have access to restricted areas around the event. ### Where was Bottas staying, and when did he discover the car was gone? Fort Lauderdale was Bottas’s base for the weekend, according to his account on the podcast. (motorsport.com) He said he chose to stay there because it was less hectic than Miami and still practical for getting to the circuit at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. Saturday morning was when Bottas said he learned the Escalade had vanished. In his retelling, he said the car had been parked in the driveway after he returned Friday night, with the keys kept inside the house, before someone alerted him the next morning that the SUV was gone. (motorsport.com) ### What exactly did Bottas say happened? Bottas said the Escalade was locked and parked outside the Airbnb when he went to bed. He said he was in the shower on Saturday morning when he was told the vehicle had disappeared from the driveway. (crash.net) Motorsport.com reported that the vehicle was team-provided, not Bottas’s personal car. Other motorsport outlets, citing Bottas’s podcast remarks, said the incident disrupted his trip to the track and left him without the paddock credential that had been inside the SUV. (express.co.uk) ### How does this fit into Bottas’s current season? Formula 1’s official team listing shows Bottas is racing for Cadillac in 2026 alongside Sergio Perez, with the U.S.-backed team making its debut as the grid’s 11th entrant this season. (express.co.uk) The official Miami Grand Prix site says the 2026 event ran from May 1 through May 3 at the Miami International Autodrome in Miami Gardens. The theft became public nearly two weeks after the race weekend itself. Motorsport.com published Bottas’s account on May 14, after the Miami round had concluded and the paddock had moved on. (motorsport.com) ### What is still not publicly known? Police and federal authorities had not, in the reports reviewed, publicly identified a suspect or announced an arrest as of May 15. The reports also did not include a public case number, a statement from the FBI, or confirmation from local police about whether the Escalade had been recovered. (formula1.com) Cadillac Formula 1 Team had not, in the material reviewed, issued a separate public statement detailing the theft or the status of the investigation. (motorsport.com) Bottas’s own account remains the central public source for the episode. May 14 is the date Bottas disclosed the theft publicly, and any next step is likely to come through Bottas, the Cadillac Formula 1 Team, local law enforcement or the FBI if investigators decide to release more details. (motorsport.com)