Valtteri Bottas is among the most experienced and decorated drivers on the grid. So, with the Finn’s three-year deal expiring at the end of the season, what’s lies ahead?
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DoorDash?
Audi, why I think he is there at stake in the first place. They will be a new-ish team and needs a safe, level headed, consistent well rounded driver in the beginning, who might not be a Leclerc or Verstappen but has experience and can help develop a car to the front of the pack. Then they can get those gem of gems driver that can extract 110% and start winning championships
Audi arrives in 2026. Bottas doesn’t have a contract for next year(2025). Is he going to take a break?
Audi already owns Stake, they can choose, I think it is going to be an easy 3 year contract with Audi, 2025 at Stake, 2026-2027 (maybe 2028) at Audi
he’s one of the three drivers I expect to replace Hamilton at Mercedes. (The other two being Alonso and Vettel).
Vettel? I don’t think he’s coming back.
Lewis at Ferrari vs Vettel at Mercedes would be funny though.
Given that Alonso is allegedly blocked by Daimler and Vettel is done with F1, I believe what they wanted to say is at they don’t expect these drivers to replace Hamilton.
Alonso is teetering to retirement. Seb is retired. I agree that Merc would pickup Bottas, it just makes sense. But, I think they’re going to hold out for a while to see what comes up.
I agree that Merc would pickup Bottas, it just makes sense.
What sense? He was a good #2 when Mercedes was dominating, but today they aren’t. Mercedes needs someone who can perform, and Bottas can’t even outperform Zhou, who isn’t in this sport on merit.
Bottas knows the team and can hit the ground running at Merc. That’s why it makes sense. Merc can still have Russell as their #1 with Bottas collecting points
They are not in a position to just collect some points because they aren’t dominant anymore. Each point counts. See the last year: Mercedes 409, Ferrari 406. 3 points decided who got the second place. Bottas is not up for the job judging by his performance at Sauber. I doubt he has any future in F1. As of the familiarity with the team, any professional driver (i.e. any driver) will quickly adapt. That’s not a decisive factor.
I’ve watched a lot of F1 in my time and I know you can’t keep a top team, especially one that builds its own engine, down for long. Good teams will always return to the front. I would expect no less from Merc. Points are most important. Having both drivers consistently in the points is what wins the WCC
