Valtteri Bottas says he “finds it quite funny” that his future at Mercedes has already been brought into question, without a single grand prix having taken place in 2020, and says Sebastian Vettel is not being considered for a race seat.
It was announced in May that Vettel and Ferrari will be parting company at the end of the year, with Carlos Sainz Jr. moving to join Charles Leclerc, and Daniel Ricciardo replacing him at McLaren.
Neither Mercedes driver is contracted beyond the end of the year though reigning World Champion Lewis Hamilton is widely expected to sign on for another deal.
Bottas, who joined the team for 2017, saw off competition from then-reserve driver Esteban Ocon to retain his drive for the upcoming season, the start of which has been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1 about his future, Bottas said: “It’s same as every year for me, I’ve always had multi-year deals but always with options, so it’s no different in any other way.
“I find it quite funny that with not even a single race done there’s been people getting my seat etc so it made me laugh a couple of times.
“There’s no pressure from that side because I still have my clear goal for the season in my mind and that’s it. Things will sort themselves one way or another. I have no stress about that at all.”
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has previously indicated that Vettel is under consideration for 2021 but Bottas asserted that he has been told otherwise.
“We’ve been very honest with my team all the time [asking] what’s the situation and I got a really straight message that ‘no they are not considering Seb’, so I said ‘fine, no worries then’.”
Discussion about this post