Valtteri Bottas Faces Uncertain Future at Audi F1 Team

As Audi F1 negotiates with Sainz and Hulkenberg, Valtteri Bottas is left to prove his worth and secure his position for 2025.

Valtteri Bottas states he doesn’t need to prove to Sauber / Audi that he remains fast and motivated enough to deserve a cockpit for 2025 and beyond.

Haas F1’s current driver, Nico Hulkenberg, has already signed with Sauber for next year and beyond, and it’s evident that if Carlos Sainz also accepts the offer made to him, Bottas will be left without a seat. He is clearly not the first option for the second seat, nor is Guanyu Zhou.

“This is what motorsport looks like,” the 34-year-old driver comments.

“Sometimes, it’s hard to demonstrate what you’re capable of.”

Indeed, even though Audi’s future prospects look promising, Sauber is currently struggling to achieve top-10 performances and has not yet resolved a technical issue that has plagued the team’s pit stops so far in 2024.

Bottas has kept a low profile recently during the transfer season, but he is now linked to potential moves to Haas, Williams, or Alpine F1.

“I think people who look into the details and try to see each driver’s performance understand what they see. But it’s also true that when you’re not scoring points, you’re almost hidden in a way.”

“I feel like I’ve had good qualifying sessions and races so far, but they’ve always been compromised. Something always happens, whether it’s a pit stop or something else. All I can do is deliver the best performance possible.”

Bottas is clearly happier than ever off the F1 tracks, and he even qualified this year for the UCI World Gravel Championships due to his passion for cycling.

Regarding F1, he insisted, “All I can do is showcase my abilities, but I’ve been feeling good lately, so I hope the right people are watching.”

“They definitely know what I’m doing,” Bottas added when asked if Audi and Sauber also acknowledge his contribution. “Recently, I did two days of non-stop testing in Japan, covered five race distances, took a night flight, and went straight into the simulator for correlation work.”

“So yes, they know.”

As for what will happen next during this “silly season,” Bottas concluded, “I think it will wrap up in the coming weeks.”

“We’re working on it, and negotiations have certainly started, so it should be a few interesting weeks ahead. All my options are 100 percent in F1.”