Valtteri Bottas currently does not have a seat for the 2025 season, as Sauber has chosen not to renew his contract. This could leave him on the sidelines for a while, with reports suggesting a potential return to his former team Mercedes, as a reserve driver. However, there are also rumors linking Bottas to Red Bull, with recent sightings fueling speculation that these rumors might become a reality.
Bottas’ name was spotted on Red Bull merch, with an X user posting a screenshot of the F1 Store website. The filter options on the left-hand side displayed Bottas along with Verstappen and Sergio Perez—existing drivers for the Austrian team.
VALTTERI BOTTAS UNDER REDBULL DRIVERS?? pic.twitter.com/hW1zmWlszh
— defne suspended era // rainmilton (@deearethree) December 2, 2024
While this could easily be a bug or a mistake, fans have started weaving theories of a possible move to Red Bull for the man who won 10 races with Mercedes between 2017 and 2021. Bottas previously commented that, due to the animosity built between Mercedes and Red Bull during their past battles, a move to the Milton Keynes-based outfit was unlikely. He felt that Red Bull would not be interested in securing his services.
However, with Bottas not being a Mercedes driver for almost four years now, Red Bull could view him as an experienced campaigner — perhaps someone better than Perez.
Bottas admittedly played the role of a wingman to perfection during his time at Mercedes, contributing to Lewis Hamilton‘s four World Championships and helping the team secure five consecutive Constructors’ titles, the last of which came in 2021. This was despite his own personal struggles during that period.
Bottas will be extremely perfect he is just perfect for that role, he did it with Lewis
— Monegato (@Monegato16) December 2, 2024
Currently, Red Bull is short on reliable options to replace Perez and young drivers like Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda are untested candidates for a top team. Bottas has certainly proven his mettle in that aspect.
Why Red Bull should look at Bottas as a short-term solution?
There were murmurs of Red Bull going after Franco Colapinto’s signature, either for themselves or their sister team RB. However, that interest appears to have faded due to the Williams driver’s recent crash-prone performances.
So, with young drivers like Tsunoda, Lawson, and Colapinto not making strong enough cases, Bottas could be a stopgap solution. While the Finnish driver has had a quiet time in F1 for the last two years, that has mainly been down to Sauber’s poor mechanical packages. With a top car, Bottas would be keen to do well at the sharp end of the grid once again.
Even for Red Bull, this could be a good option before one of Lawson, Tsunoda or their Academy driver Isack Hadjar gets ready for a seat alongside Verstappen.
Bottas himself feels that he is still driving at his best and is in top shape in terms of fitness. He also refuses to give up on his racing career, admitting to looking at other series like IndyCar in case his F1 career never truly takes off again.
