Valtteri Bottas exclaimed he was “relieved” his three-year spell at Sauber was over after being brutally cut from the Audi Formula 1 project.
The Finn joined the Swiss-based squad in 2022 on a three-year deal under its former guise of Alfa Romeo and the stewardship of former boss Frederic Vasseur.
However, Vasseur’s departure to Ferrari at the beginning of 2023 coincided with a spiralling downfall for Sauber and Bottas went from scoring 49 points in 2022 to nought in 2024.
With no place on the 2025 grid thanks to Sauber’s signing of Nico Hulkenberg and newly-crowned Formula 2 Champion Gabriel Bortoleto, Bottas’ unfortunate lock-up and clash with Kevin Magnussen at the Yas Marina Circuit last Sunday was a painful end to a difficult chapter.
“I knew from the moment that I touched the brakes and locked up that that was it, it is a shame, but it is not the first disappointment,” Bottas said post-race.
“I’m relieved that this section of my career is over, and now I’m really looking ahead and going to work hard to make the best plan of how to be back on the grid.
“It was a mistake, but you can’t predict the future. Everything started off so well in the first year but since then, it’s been downhill.”
Sauber plans ‘went in the bin,’ when Vasseur left, says Bottas
Bottas revealed that he had an option in his Sauber deal to leave as Vasseur left for Ferrari, a move he doesn’t begrudge.
“There was a clear plan [with Vasseur] for targets for the three years, and also how to get there,” Bottas said.
“But those plans and targets went into the bin when he left.
I don’t blame him [Vasseur] because if you’re a team principal and have a chance to go to Ferrari, you go.”
Audi claimed Bottas would be a ‘pillar’ of its F1 project
However, with Audi starting its takeover of Sauber at the end of 2022, Bottas decided to stay with the team amid assurances he would be a “pillar” of the German marque’s arrival in F1.
“I did have an option that if Fred goes, I can go, but I was then, once Audi was confirmed, I was always told I would be a pillar for the project,” Bottas explained.
“Well, that didn’t happen.”
Audi initially installed Andreas Seidl as CEO at Sauber upon Vasseur’s departure and it’s widely believed he wrote off Bottas as being a part of the team’s long-term future.
Hulkenberg was a Seidl signing and when the former McLaren Team Principal was replaced by Mattia Binotto this summer, youth was picked over experience for the second Sauber seat in 2025, leaving Bottas without a drive.
However, speculation links Bottas with a Reserve Driver role with Mercedes next season and the arrival of Cadillac in 2026 gives the Finn a strong chance to bounce back to F1 at the earliest possible opportunity.
“That’s what I hope so, and that’s the target,” Bottas said.
“I think there will be, there will be opportunities. But for that, I still need to keep driving, make sure I get some testing. Be involved.”
READ MORE – Sauber details core reason behind Valtteri Bottas 2025 F1 snub
