Following a ‘zero-points’ race at Monaco, Valtteri Bottas has again gathered ‘clouds of doubts’ as Sauber’s #1 with his below-par 2024 season. His matter worsened as the Swiss team, soon to be Audi, penned Nico Hulkenberg for the 2025 seat.
However, yesterday at Montréal, he came out to discuss his future in the 2025 F1 season.
Valtteri Bottas confident of ‘making a move soon’ with nothing ‘confirmed or signed yet’ for 2025 F1 seat
Since joining in 2022, Bottas had successful, point-scoring seasons in his first two years with the team. But, the two-time Drivers’ Cup runner-up is experiencing his worst season yet, with zero points scored so far.
With his contract expiring this season and Stake F1 already signing Nico Hulkenberg, his future remains uncertain. This move has raised questions about whether he will be retained for the 2025 season.
In an interview on Thursday, Valtteri Bottas admitted that he’s “still working with all the options” with nothing “confirmed or signed yet” with his future team. Reflecting on this, he emphasized that he “needs to make a move soon“:
“I think I need to do my choice quickly. Nothing has been confirmed or signed yet from my side. So, no really big news since last week. Still working with all the options that there is, and need to make a move soon. That’s basically where I’m at.”
Lewis Hamilton, who’ll be in Ferrari’s red suits in 2025, is having an ‘awkward’ situation at Mercedes. Knowing that he’ll be a direct rival next season, Mercedes is hiding a lot of plans with the Briton. During the interview, Bottas was asked whether he’s facing the same phase at Stake or not. To this, he replied by adding:
“It’s nothing strange. It’s not my first time, and it’s just the way it is. Obviously, if you know, like example Lewis, that you’re leaving already to another team, of course things aren’t the same as if you’re going to stay there. That’s how it is.”
“Seasons go by quickly, so in no time he’ll be wearing red and it’s fine. But, for me it’s okay. Like I said, I just need to figure out my situation, focus on that, and then we’ll see if things are awkward or not.”
Surprisingly, the interviewer even asked about the Bottas’ confidence in finding a seat in the 2025 season. “Do you think there’s a realistic chance that you’ll be left on the sidelines for 2025? Are you confident you’re going to find a seat?“. Replying to these, he continued by saying,
“I’m confident I’m going to get a seat, but obviously in this sport nothing is confirmed, so it’s never 100% sure until you’re assigned. But, at least how I see the situation at the moment, I’m not worrying. But yeah, it should be an interesting week or two ahead for sure.”
With 11 seasons in Formula 1, Bottas has quite the experience with such ‘last season’ phases from his previous years. Explaining this, he continued,
“Obviously, it’s a way more comfortable feeling if you know what is happening, but at the same time it’s kind of exciting, a certain element of unknowns. There could be something new and exciting on the way, that’s kind of nice. I just need to live with the situation.”
“If you look at my past, when I’ve been normally confirmed to certain teams, this is still very early in terms of the season. If you can do things before the August break, that’s already a good thing.”
Bottas ‘doesn’t see an issue’ in early announcements in F1
The 7x World Champ, Lewis Hamilton, kicked off the ‘early switch announcement’ style back at the season’s start. Stake and Hulkenberg soon followed up on this trend with their move. Talking about this pattern, Bottas opened up that he “doesn’t see it as an issue“.
“I don’t see it as an issue. I think it’s nice that there’s flexibility and differences on that. Some teams are willing to wait until the last minute, but then that also provides a risk of having less options.”
Again, the reporter raced back to the previous question of Stake’s treatment of Bottas this season compared to last season. For a second time, he explained,
“I haven’t seen much about next year’s car, if I’m honest. But that’s normal, that’s how it goes. That would go in the same way for any driver who is not confirmed yet.”
“If I would be confirmed here, then I’m sure I would see a lot more stuff. That’s just how it goes.”
During the session, he also opened up on “not being an automatic choice for Audi“, ahead of Hulkenberg. Explaining this, he told that Stake “wants quite a lot of change in the team“. Despite the team willing to wait for this change, Bottas revealed that he “doesn’t have the time to wait for too long“.
“I feel like at the moment they want quite a lot of change in the team. Probably the same thing with the driver lineup. That’s how I read the situation. But, they are willing to wait for a long time. But I can’t forever, so this team is definitely still an option. But, I don’t think I have the time to wait for too long, so that’s why I want to speed things up.”
“Of course I was personally, and what I’ve been communicating within the last 12 months or so. I was always going to be part of the project. But, things have been a bit more quiet lately. So, that’s why I need to try and read the situation and do my thing.”
Bottas believes Stake F1 can ‘do way better than what they’re doing now’
With zero points scored till now, Stake F1 is having the worst season amongst the other teams. But, the team’s #1 still hopes to turn the tide around and leave the team with his ‘head held high’. Talking about this, he finished off by adding,
“It’s still a long season, thank God. We’re still relatively early in the season. We have still upgrades already planned. And what is positive is that it’s super close. And it’s also track specific. And at least the issues we’ve had with the pit stops, that’s now sorted, so we can just focus on the performance.”
“I still believe that by working together we can do way better than what we’re doing now. But also saying that it’s not going to be an easy season ahead, that means hard work and some good steps.”
Currently, Stake F1 is sitting at last in the 2024 Constructor Standings– with Bottas and Zhou Guanyu placed P20 and P19 in the Drivers table. Surely, the two will be looking to grab some points on Sunday’s race at the 2024 Canadian Grand Prix.
[adrotate banner=”10″]
Get 10% off all official F1 Merch at TheRaceWorks.com using code ‘EF1‘ at checkout.