Valtteri Bottas has admitted that he ended up in an “unlucky situation” with the circumstances that have resigned him to enduring a period on the sidelines from Formula 1.
Bottas was overlooked to retain his previous seat at Sauber as the team opted to sign rookie Gabriel Bortoleto to complete a revised line-up alongside Nico Hulkenberg.
The Finn, who had been with Sauber since 2022, had been angling to land a renewal amid the Hinwil-based squad’s pending expansion into a works Audi setup in 2026.
But with Sauber going in an alternative direction and changing both drivers, Bottas has since secured a return to Mercedes in a reserve role for the upcoming F1 campaign.
Bottas has revealed that he caught wind that Sauber was leaning towards replacing him with Bortoleto, the reigning Formula 2 champion, before the side’s announcement.
“I would say the couple of days leading up to the decision I started to hear some rumours and stuff,” Bottas told Motorsport Week in an exclusive interview in Las Vegas last term.
“But I knew when the final board meeting was and how it was going to be. And yeah, the decision was made. I mean, it’s very obvious there was nothing more I could have done for it. So, I take it. Like I said earlier in my small statement that when one door closes another one opens. And it brings new opportunities for the future.”
Bottas had been in talks with Williams, the team that gave him his F1 debut, earlier in the campaign, but Carlos Sainz taking that spot narrowed the options available to him.
Having then hedged all his bets on retaining his current seat, Bottas was consigned to not being on the 2025 grid once Sauber made the choice to invest in newcomer Bortoleto.
“Yeah, it’s a bit unlucky how it just panned out and things were dragging on,” he elaborated. “And then I was left in a situation that here was the only option in the end. And then that didn’t work out, so I knew that’s it for now.
“So I think I’ll just call it unlucky. I think we tried everything we could with management, but just things went in an unlucky way.”
Bottas wanted multi-year Sauber/Audi deal
Bottas appeared certain to leave Sauber when Andreas Seidl was overseeing the Audi transition, but his exit and Mattia Binotto’s appointment handed him a sudden lifeline.
Binotto has conceded that it could take the German marque until 2030 to be competitive enough to be in title contention amid the disorder that he had inherited at the team.
Bottas has insisted that he made it clear during his talks with the erstwhile Ferrari boss that he wanted a multi-term deal amid the realisation that 2025 will be challenging.
“I always knew that it’s not going to be easy for Audi,” he highlighted. “It will take time, but how long? That’s the big question mark.
“But yeah, I was always committed for a long-term project even though it would be difficult. And that’s why I always made it very clear that I wouldn’t be ready to do one year only. Because I knew that it will definitely take time, more than a year or two. So that’s where we’re at.”
Bottas hints at external reasons behind Sauber chop
Bottas being dropped came despite him producing a solid season in an uncompetitive Sauber car as he out-qualified team-mate Zhou Guanyu 21 times in 24 rounds, outracing him on 14 occasions.
“Well, I know that in any case that this sport is not fair,” he reasoned. “In the end it’s [a] big business. There’s many factors on driver decisions. So, I understand it. So, it doesn’t really make me mad or anything. It can happen. I think in the end I just ended up in a little bit unlucky situation for my career.”
Bottas expressed that he was pleased with the campaign that he strung together, citing that not even Max Verstappen would have scored points in the C44 prior to the late upgrades that helped Zhou break its duck.
Asked whether he could take solace from his performances on track in 2024, Bottas concluded: “Yeah, it’s [in] my nature. I always try everything I can. And I think I’ve had a strong season. Of course, not by the results but if you look at individual performances I’ve been happy. I don’t believe anyone could have got a point with this car so far. That’s just the way it is.”
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