Valtteri Bottas has clarified Formula 1 drivers have “no problem” paying taxes when they race in Italy, expanding on comments he made at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.
It has been mooted that the 2026 F1 season finale could take place in Imola rather than Abu Dhabi, should current plans be cancelled due to the war in the Middle East. However, speaking on Thursday ahead of the race at Sepang, Bottas claimed “no driver really wants to race in Italy” owing to its current tax situation.
In Italy, foreign athletes are considered to be freelancers and are therefore required to pay tax on money earned while competing in the nation. It has been reported that several F1 drivers were sent letters earlier this year by Italy’s financial police, the Guardia di Finanza, asking them to submit tax returns on money they had earned from the last seven years.
“I don’t know if you’ve heard about the Italian tax? No driver wants to really race in Italy because of recent events, what happened,” Bottas said on Thursday.
Valtteri Bottas: F1 drivers have “no problem” paying taxes
Having received criticism for his comments, Bottas told Sky Sports F1 he believes they were blown out of proportion.
“It’s one of those classic examples, where I explained about the situation and they only took just the best bits, to make it look really bad for me,” he said after Friday practice.
“Honestly, we have no problem with paying taxes – as long as we know. We race in many countries and in more than 50 percent of the countries we go to, there’s a certain percentage. And that’s okay, as long as we know.
“But it’s kind of frustrating the drivers that, in this case, they went back seven or eight years.
“We always got told we don’t have to file anything for Italy, otherwise we would have. So that kind of came up with this thing, and obviously it’s a substantial amount. I’m sure it would annoy anyone, that’s just how it goes, but it would have been nice to know in advance.”
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen also addressed the comments, stating: “There is no tax issue. You just have to pay tax.”
Haas’s Ollie Bearman, now in his second F1 season, joked that “the tax complication is a bit less relevant to me than some of the others”.
A decision over where the final two races – scheduled to be held in Qatar and Abu Dhabi – will take place is set to be made in the coming weeks.
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