Valtteri Bottas Reportedly Penned a New Contract With Sauber That Will Make Him Stay

Pranay Bhagi | 21/09/2024
Valtteri Bottas Reportedly Penned a New Contract With Sauber That Will Make Him Stay

Valtteri Bottas’ F1 future was under doubt following the subpar 2024 season. The Finnish driver is currently last in the championship standings and was expected to be replaced by a younger driver. However, Bottas has reportedly signed a new contract with the Hinwil-based outfit. 

According to Blick, an F1 team principal unintentionally revealed that Bottas has signed a new contract with Sauber. The report read, “‘Do you know that Bottas has signed again for a year?‘ a team boss asked Blick in Singapore on Friday during the training break. And this successful man can (unfortunately) be trusted with such indiscretions”

The report suggested that the same boss revealed the Audi takeover news about five months before it became official. Nonetheless, Bottas always seemed confident in suggesting himself as a strong option for the 2025 Sauber seat.

Gabriel Bortoleto and recently Franco Colapinto were linked as potential candidates for the Sauber seat. Bortoleto has been doing exceptionally well in F2 and currently leads the championship standings over Red Bull junior Isack Hadjar. Meanwhile, Colapinto’s exploits as Logan Sargeant’s replacement at Williams were quite evident in Baku with his debut points finish.

Still, Bottas was the most experienced option among all these available options. With the team moving into a new phase under the Audi ownership, having two stable and well-established drivers is always better than risking it out with a rookie. 

Bottas on his 2024 performance: “I’m driving better…”

Bottas has been in F1 for well over a decade. The Finnish driver helped Mercedes win five consecutive constructors’ titles and is still highly rated. Yet, at the Singapore GP press conference, a reporter asked Bottas if he was driving better than he did at Mercedes amid the Sauber future speculation.

Bottas stated that his qualifying has been rather good this season and he feels he is “getting better with experience”. He added, “I feel actually I’m driving better than what I did at Mercedes, but obviously it’s not that visible.” However, Sauber’s car has not allowed the Finn to replicate his improved performance into points.

The Sauber car has fallen to the back of the grid in the pecking order. Although the team is only about a second away from the leaders on most occasions, the competitiveness of the grid means they’re dead last. It is believed that the team is preparing for the overhaul with minimal focus on the 2024 car.

Post Edited By: Aishwary Gaonkar
Audi Sauber Valtteri Bottas

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Pranay Bhagi

Pranay Bhagi is an F1 Journalist at the Sportsrush. He's been following the sport since 2010 and has been a Sebastian Vettel enthusiant since then. He started his F1 journalism journey two years ago and has written over 1300 articles. As an Aston Martin supporter, he hopes for Fernando Alonso to win the 3rd title. Apart from F1, anything with an engine and wheel intruiges him. In true petrolhead sense, he often travels across the country on his motorcycle.

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