Valtteri Bottas coined as Mercedes’ “ar*e saver” if ‘next Max Verstappen’ Kimi Antonelli fails to deliver 

Former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya claimed that Mercedes had signed Valtteri Bottas to save their "a***" if their rookie driver Kimi Antonelli failed to deliver. The Finnish had previously raced for the German team from 2017 to 2021 and won the Constructor's Championship every year with them.

However, he was replaced by George Russell at the end of the 2021 season and joined Kick Sauber. But after Lewis Hamilton's shock exit from the team at the end of the 2024 season, Toto Wolff roped him back into the fray as their reserve driver after Sauber, who will be Audi in 2026, went for Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto.

Speaking with CasasDeApuestas.bet, former McLaren driver Juan Pablo Montoya believed that Mercedes had signed Valtteri Bottas as a safety net for the 'next Max Verstappen' Kimi Antonelli does not work out, saying (via RacingNews365):

“Kimi Antonelli is on the other side of the coin, in the spotlight in one of the best teams out there with a team-mate who is doing a mega job. And you’re being sold as the next Max Verstappen. If he doesn’t deliver, that's tough.

“My reading is that with [Valtteri] Bottas, Mercedes would be covering their a*se. He’s a safety net to have somebody in case it doesn’t work with Antonelli and he knows that.”

Kimi Antonelli would drive full-time in 2025 alongside George Russell in his rookie season in the sport.

Mercedes team boss chimes in on bringing Valtteri Bottas as a reserve driver

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff stated that Valtteri Bottas would bring important technical feedback and input to the Brackley-based outfit given his experience in the sport.

As per Sky Sports, the Austrian reflected on the decision:

"His technical feedback and input were important in helping us to those successes and pushing the team forward. Not only that, but he was also a fantastic colleague and team member. His dry sense of humor and personable nature made him a firm favorite with everyone at Brackley and Brixworth.

"All those qualities will be incredibly important in helping us compete for world championships and supporting both George and Kimi on track."

Bottas had won ten times in his five years with the team and had more experience than Russell and Antonelli. It looks unlikely that he would get any track action in a competitive setting during the weekends but being around the team could make him viable for other teams including General Motors, that would enter F1 in 2026 as the 11th team.

Valtteri Bottas finished the 2024 season in P22 with no points to his tally for the first time in his career despite dominating his ex-teammate Guanyu Zhou, who scored the Sauber's four points, in both qualifying and races.