Valtteri Bottas Offers Latest Update on F1 Contract Talks With Mercedes

If there’s one driver who is struggling in a championship-winning car this season, it’s Valtteri Bottas. After a disastrous pit stop in Monaco ended his race, the Finn finished P12 in Baku two weeks later. To make matters worse, this is his worst start to a season since joining the Silver Arrows in 2017.

Although he’s been a great asset to Mercedes, Bottas faces a race against time to secure his future in F1. With his contract expiring at the end of the season, the Finn believes he will discuss his future with Mercedes soon.

Valtteri Bottas believes the time to discuss his future “will come”

Currently in his 9th season in F1, Bottas faces his greatest challenge yet. Although he’s far from the top in the driver’s championship, the Finn needs to challenge for podium places once again, sooner rather than later.

With Mercedes monitoring George Russell‘s progress, Bottas revealed no conversations about his future have taken place as yet because of the demanding race weekends. However, the Finn believes he will discuss his future with Mercedes next month.

He said, “First of all, we haven’t yet spoken anything because it’s a pretty demanding championship and you know how much it matters to have working peace, let’s say, so you can focus on the main thing, which is performance.

“That time will come, for sure. It’s been not yet, but obviously time flies and especially soon when we go to triple headers etcetera, we won’t really have time. I would imagine that naturally in the next month or so maybe we’ll start to speak.”

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Bottas: Still have a few good years in me

Although the Finn turns 32 this August, he believes he can still do well in F1. However, he also acknowledged the uncertainty that is part of an F1 driver’s future.

Bottas said, “If I look at the big picture, for sure I still have a good few years in me. I feel like year on year I keep improving on certain areas and keep getting better.

“I’m quite far from the oldest drivers on the grid so, in theory, I still have time, but you just don’t know what the future holds. I take it weekend by weekend and see what comes.”

While 2022 comes with new technical regulations, the driver’s market looks more active than ever. And whether or not Bottas keeps his seat for 2022, the seat at Mercedes is arguably the most talked about at the moment.

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