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Former Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas has expressed his desire to continue with the Sauber F1 team and eventually work with Audi when the German automotive giant enters the sport in 2026. Despite not being able to bag podiums and finish near the top of the table, he is still very interested in continuing his journey in the sport.
Speaking to the Daily Express, Valtteri Bottas initially talked about his current contract ending at the end of 2024, adding that there have been no talks about his future with Sauber.
“I’m signed until [the] end of next year, and there hasn’t been talks yet. We have agreed to talk next year… I would say in the first quarter of next year to finalise things and make sure we’re all on the same page,” said Bottas (via formu1a.uno)
Bottas further talked about how interesting the driver market would be after 2024, with many driver contracts expiring and them shuffling around teams. As for him, he claimed that his goal is to be part of the Audi project.
“It’s interesting times in F1 obviously. I think there’s actually many drivers without contracts [beyond 2024] so it’s going to be quite interesting actually to follow how things are going to fall into place. For me the goal is clear. I would definitely want to be a part of the Audi project, so that’s my goal and we’ll find out next year what happens,” he said.
F1 fans on social media were quick to react to Valtteri Bottas' statement and how he is interested in driving for Audi in the future. Many discussed how the Finnish driver would retire by the time Audi enters Formula 1 with Sauber.
Furthermore, some pointed out that Bottas and, in addition, Zhou Guanyu, have not proved anything extraordinary for the German giants to consider them as their drivers in 2026.
"He should be retired right now," was one comment.
"I know the machinery hasnt been there as of late, but nothing Zhou or Bottas has done has proved they have what it takes to lead Audi in F1," was another tweet.
Lewis Hamilton wanted Valtteri Bottas to stay in Mercedes, feels F1 pundit
F1 pundit Peter Windsor recently discussed the relationship between Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, speculating that it could heat up as soon as Mercedes develops a championship-winning car.
Soon after this, he claimed that Hamilton would have liked Valtteri Bottas to stay in Mercedes simply because he created the right balance in the team, similar to how Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez currently have in Red Bull.
“Lewis always wanted to keep Valtteri, not necessarily because he loved Valtteri but because it was the right balance of the team. He could feel that. That was the same as Max Verstappen [and] Sergio Perez. It came to the surface more than ever before, I think, in the Japanese Grand Prix,” he stated.
The Finnish driver left eight-time constructors' champion Mercedes in 2021 to join the Alfa Romeo Sauber team.
