New Mercedes reserve driver Valtteri Bottas has hinted that he was promised a race seat for 2025 at Kick Sauber by technical director Mattia Binotto. The Finn has had to settle for a reserve role for the Silver Arrows after failing to find a spot on the grid for the upcoming season.
Toto Wolff has brought Bottas back to Brackley in a substitute role to add some experience to the driving group, providing support to George Russell and incoming teenage protege Kimi Antonelli. However, Bottas admitted that a reserve role was not his first choice as he was expecting to be on the grid for 2025.
Speaking to RacingNews365 in an exclusive, Valtteri Bottas revealed that a verbal agreement was in place between him and Binotto, which would have seen the 10-time race winner be an important part of Sauber's transition into Audi from 2026 onwards.
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"Coming to the end of my contract, I started having a lot of questions about the future, but I was always very confident that I'll be on the [2025] grid, because that is how it looked," Bottas said.
"It was hard because I always got the indication, especially when Mattia [Binotto] joined, that I would be the pillar for the project, so it was hard to jump 100% into something else because I got promised I would have a seat,” he added.
Valtteri Bottas also went on to say that he felt the decision was driven by Audi’s board, where some members wanted him to stay while others preferred to bring in a new young driver. Sauber have ended up signing F2 2024 winner Gabriel Bortoleto to replace the 35-year-old.
Kick Sauber will be going into the 2025 season with a brand new lineup as they have also signed Nico Hulkenberg to partner the 20-year-old Brazilian rookie. Both Hulkenberg and Bortoleto have signed multi-year contracts and are likely to be part of the Audi driver lineup for 2026.
Valtteri Bottas will have a coaching role, says Toto Wolff
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has explained that part of Valtteri Bottas' new role at the team will be to coach and analyze their new 18-year-old driver, Kimi Antonelli.
The Silver Arrows have fast-tracked their teenage protege into the senior driver lineup. Antonelli has huge shoes to fill as he is set to replace seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.
While the German team boss has shown complete confidence in the potential and promise of Antonelli, the rookie is set to have a baptism of fire as he will be going straight into one of the top teams on the grid.
Speaking to RacingNews365 (via Planet F1), Wolff explained how Bottas will help the Italian in his debut season, saying:
“Part of the role of Valtteri will be to have a look at Kimi. Be there to coach, be there to have an eye on what’s happening on the track. Kimi is going to learn from Valtteri and from George [Russell],” Wolff said.
Valtteri Bottas' support and experience in the sim and also trackside could prove valuable to Mercedes' new driver lineup, which is set to see George Russell step into a leadership role for the first time since joining the team in 2022.
