Sauber driver Valtteri Bottas remains optimistic about his future in Formula 1 beyond the conclusion of his current contract at the end of this season.
Having joined the team during its Alfa Romeo phase in 2022, Bottas is eyeing a continuation with the squad as it transitions into the Audi works team for the 2026 season following the impending buyout.
However, recent developments have brought uncertainty to Bottas’s plans. The team recently announced the signing of Nico Hulkenberg from Haas on a multi-year deal for the upcoming season, leaving only one seat available for Bottas to pursue.
Despite this, Bottas asserts that he has alternative avenues to explore to ensure his presence on the grid in the future.
When questioned about his options, Bottas expressed confidence in the ongoing discussions, hinting at imminent developments. “No, there are options. I have the feeling that things will start soon,” he affirmed, highlighting the initiation of talks and anticipating intriguing developments in the coming weeks.
One potential avenue for Bottas could be a return to Williams, the team he departed from unexpectedly in 2017 to fill the void left by Nico Rosberg’s retirement at Mercedes. During his tenure at Mercedes, Bottas forged a close working relationship with James Vowles, who is now the team principal at Williams.
However, a direct swap with Hulkenberg to Haas appears improbable. Haas is expected to retain Kevin Magnussen alongside Oliver Bearman, who garnered attention with his performance as a substitute for Carlos Sainz at Ferrari in Saudi Arabia.
Neither Bottas nor his current teammate, Zhou Guanyu, are anticipated to remain at Sauber. Zhou recently acknowledged the intense competition within the team, emphasizing the desire to excel for personal career prospects.
“Of course it’s always quite a competition in the team, you know, you want to be the best, that’s clear, for your own personal future career,” Zhou remarked on Formula 1’s Beyond the Grid podcast, echoing the sentiments shared by his peers.
“Definitely, let’s say, the first year compared to now, it’s a bit more intense,” he remarked. “Always fighting a bit more on track.
“But what I do say is that he’s still there to share information, to be able to make a step together, try to improve as a team, improve our package all the way around,” he continued.
“We always do the right thing, and whoever can perform can come out on top,” he emphasized. “There’s no, let’s say, too clever, or eager feeling between any of us, even in the race craft.
Zhou elaborated that it’s not a scenario where “if one guy is ahead, the other guy is trying to use him to protect a little bit to help his race if we’re only fighting for the final spot.”
“We definitely are working still as a team,” he affirmed. “But of course, I think this year for all the drivers on the grid with the contracts expiring, everybody wants to show their own potential.
“Everybody wants to be the best of themselves for whatever reason for their career,” he accepted. “So I think, yeah, we do want to beat each other. We want to be the best in our team. But we’re still team players in the same way.”
Whatever lies ahead for him, Zhou is eager to reach a resolution sooner rather than later, having been confined to a series of single-season contracts thus far.
“I definitely prefer to be getting sorted and knowing what I’m doing for the next few years, so that I can be fully committed to the programme – to the project going ahead – with any team.
“As a rookie coming into F1, it’s not like maybe 10 years ago that a new driver come to F1 and they always had a longer two, three years contract,” he pointed out. “Now teams want to see individual contracts, want to see you perform.
“I feel like having individual yearly contracts is tough for the mental side,” he debated. “You want to limit your mistakes while at the same time you want to show your passion of progression as a driver to the team.
“So that’s where the hard thing comes,” he remarked, emphasizing that teams delaying contract offers until later in the year could leave drivers with limited options at that stage.
“They can give you the one you can sign,” he stated. “That’s where those things become very tricky for the drivers.”
