Despite having 10 Grand Prix wins under his belt, Valtteri Bottas is facing a risk of losing his Sauber seat for 2025. The Hinwil-based outfit hasn’t been keen on extending the Finn’s contract and has been actively looking for other younger drivers for their future Audi lineup.
If Bottas were to lose his F1 seat, he revealed that he would be open to switching over to IndyCar. Previously, former F1 drivers like Romain Grosjean and Marcus Ericsson have done so and the Finn thinks it’s a good proposition for him too.
“I think I would have to look at all the options. It makes sense for the future, for the short term, and also for the long term, but without a doubt, I would like to race in some series,” Bottas said in an exclusive with Motorsport Week. “If I have to choose one now, other than Formula 1, it would be IndyCar.”
Sauber will morph into Audi’s works team from 2026 onwards and have already signed Nico Hulkenberg as one of their drivers for next season. The Swiss team were also chasing Carlos Sainz to partner with Hulkenberg, but the Spaniard chose to sign with Williams for his future.
Sauber’s new chief technical officer, Mattia Binotto recently shed some light on who the team may sign as their second driver. He revealed that although Bottas is doing well and they are considering him, there are several other options who they can potentially choose.
About yesterday
We gave it all but it still wasn’t enough to get points. Will always keep trying, and eventually there will be a reward.
Race report: https://t.co/zR2aKenyGt#VB77 #F1 #ItalianGP pic.twitter.com/4y0T8n0ygp
— Valtteri Bottas (@ValtteriBottas) September 2, 2024
Sauber could retain their current driver, Zhou Guanyu. However, the Chinese driver has not been in strong contention to retain his seat as well. Binotto is rather considering McLaren’s Academy driver, Gabriel Bortoleto. Bortoleto is currently doing exceptionally well in F2 and has reportedly come on the Swiss team’s shortlist.
Meanwhile, they also have the option of signing their own Academy driver, Theo Pourchaire. The Frenchman has been on the sidelines after winning the 2023 F2 championship, but seems set on wanting to race in F1.
Moreover, with F1 recently witnessing a trend of teams signing younger drivers, it seems more likely as time passes that Sauber will sign one of the younger drivers instead of retaining Bottas. However, for a driver like Bottas, he still believes he has many years left in him.
Bottas takes inspiration from Fernando Alonso’s longevity
With Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton still driving in their prime at the age of 43 and 39 respectively, Bottas knows he still has time as he’s only 35. Speaking of it, he stated in the same interview,
“I think Fernando [Alonso] is a benchmark, maybe an outlier, but I still have time. I’m actually just getting into my mid-30s now, so age is not an issue”.
The Finn believes that because of his decade-long experience in the sport, he can always offer something that the younger drivers may not be able to offer. However, considering how the 2024 season has panned out so far, he seems to have struggled to prove himself.
He is yet to score a point due to Sauber’s struggles and is classified 22nd in the standings despite only 20 drivers racing full-time this year.
