Over the last few weeks, rumors about Carlos Sainz considering a move away from Ferrari have grown stronger. With not many teams having a slot available, Sainz was believed to have signed a pre-contract with new entrants Audi. Now, however, it seems as though Lewis Hamilton’s former teammate Valtteri Bottas, is the favorite to lead the German manufacturer’s ambitious F1 project.
Bottas joined Alfa Romeo-Sauber in 2022, after spending five seasons at Mercedes. Just a year after Bottas’ joining, it was revealed that the Alfa Romeo would part ways with Sauber at the end of the 2023 season. Bottas, however, has a contract with the Hinwil-based outfit until 2024, with an option for a year’s extension.
Audi won’t officially make their F1 debut until 2026. Plus, Bottas declined to comment if he will consider staying with Sauber after Audi joins them or not. However, it is clear that the Finn’s decision could play a role in deciding Ferrari star Carlos Sainz’s F1 future.
Valtteri Bottas or Carlos Sainz? Who would Audi want?
When Audi does make its debut, it would want an experienced driver at the helm. This is because, to find their feet in the sport, they need someone who has race-winning experience with a top team. For that, they could choose to dive into the market and secure the services of a driver like Carlos Sainz, who is reportedly unhappy at Ferrari.
On the other hand, they could look at existing Sauber driver Valtteri Bottas. He has 10 race wins in F1, and guided Mercedes to five consecutive constructors’ championship titles. To have him lead their project would be a huge deal for Audi and Sauber. Additionally, signing Bottas won’t be difficult for the German company either, because they are merging with Sauber, a team Bottas is already a part of.
All Sauber/Audi have to do is extend Bottas’ contract. Unfortunately, the 33-year-old is still unsure about wanting to continue his journey with the Swiss outfit. As reported by Motorsport, he said, “We’ll see, there’s still some time left, I’m sure we’ll have talks, but not yet.”
Admittedly, there are concerns regarding the outfit’s performance that Bottas addressed in the same interview.
Is Bottas unhappy with his role at Alfa Romeo?
In Bottas’ debut season at Alfa Romeo, things got off to a very strong start. In the first few races, he was fighting in the points places on a regular basis, but now, things aren’t quite the same. Both Bottas and his teammate Zhou Guanyu are struggling to finish in the top 10, and have been vastly underwhelming for the majority of this campaign so far.
Despite this, Bottas insists that there isn’t any rift between himself an the team. In fact, he addressed the topic about Sauber desperate about Audi’s entry by saying, “Seeing it from the outside, it seems like this, that people are just waiting for Audi to come, but it is not the case.”
Bottas insist that everyone in Hinwil is working hard to make sure that they make as big strides as possible in the last ten races of the 2023 season.
