by SIMONE PELUSO
With the signing of Nico Hulkenberg for 2025 and Audi’s insistence with Carlos Sainz, Valtteri Bottas it is increasingly on the margins of the current Sauber project, now already fully within the orbit of the Ingolstadt company.
The Finnish driver, whose contract is expiring, boasts a great deal of experience which can be useful to many medium-low ranking teams in building a more ambitious project. It is also true, however, that the places still available are limited: Haas he will almost certainly have Oliver Bearman with him, while Magnussen seems one step away from leaving; Williams he recently renewed with Alexander Albon and his second seat could be taken by Andrea Kimi Antonelli (everything will depend on Mercedes); Alpine both drivers are expiring, but they will only leave if they manage to find more competitive companies.
As the weeks pass, the situation becomes more and more tangled, but Bottas does not lose hope and is confident that he will still carve out his space for the foreseeable future: “I have no interest in signing an annual contract just to last in Formula 1, but I need a long term project with clear objectives and respect for what I can offer the team. This is my main goal.”
The idea of a sensational return to Mercedes in place of Lewis Hamilton and is therefore discarded by the Finngiven that Toto Wolff is offering at most a one-year contract to keep the door open for Antonelli 2026. Added to this is the history that Bottas has had with Mercedes, made up of many annual contracts that did not allow him to live his experience very well at Brackley.
“At the moment, everything is an option, but I wish everything was closed before the summer break in August. Otherwise it will be too late – he added – In any case, don’t panic, there are ongoing discussions and progress is being made. I don’t have a signed contract yet, so I can’t say 100% that he will be in Formula 1 next year, let’s say 99%.”
Just during the Imola weekend, Bottas himself was spotted in the Williams motorhome, where he stopped for about fifteen minutes.
