Valtteri Bottas, who was Lewis Hamilton’s teammate at Mercedes from 2017-2021, has caused a stir in the driver market. With a coveted spot at Mercedes now available for 2025, there are already several contenders in the mix. Bottas himself is also interested in being a part of the upcoming silly season.
Prior to his departure from Mercedes, Bottas achieved great success alongside Hamilton. Now that Hamilton is set to leave at the end of the upcoming season, Bottas has expressed his openness to a sensational return to Brackley.
In a recent interview with Motorsport, Bottas made it clear that he would be more than willing to rejoin the Mercedes F1 team. However, he also revealed that one of his main goals for now is to be involved in the Sauber/Audi project. This project will see the German giants take majority control of the current Stake F1 team starting from 2026.
While Bottas has shown enthusiasm for rejoining Mercedes, his contributions to the team during his time alongside Hamilton should not be overlooked. Without Bottas’s efforts, the team would not have secured five Constructors Championships between 2017-2021. He himself won 10 Grand Prix races with the team.
Although Bottas was not able to match the speed and precision of the former seven-time world champion, he held his own and gained the trust of Mercedes boss, Toto Wolff, over the course of five years. Wolff recognizes Bottas’s reliability and ability to deliver exceptional performances. If Bottas performs well in the upcoming 2024 F1 season, there is a possibility of him rejoining Mercedes from 2025 onwards.