With the Formula 1 season winding down, only two spots are left to be confirmed on the grid for the 2025 campaign. One of those spots is at Visa Cash App RB F1 Team, where current driver Daniel Ricciardo and reserve driver Liam Lawson are among the top options.
The other spot? That is at Sauber, a seat currently occupied by Valtteri Bottas. While the team confirmed that Nico Hülkenberg will be driving for the next team, ahead of the switch to Sauber becoming the Audi works operation in 2026, the team has yet to confirm their second driver.
Speaking with the official F1 channel ahead of this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Bottas outlined how talks with the team are progressing, as well as F1 remaining his “most likely” destination next year.
“Yeah, there’s quite a few things to think about in this sport. Just the race weekend alone is quite a lot of load on you mentally and physically, and yet there’s always the contract situation which is an extra stress,” began Bottas. “But yeah, things are progressing.
“We’re still almost in daily contact with, with Mattia [Binotto], figuring out what each party wants and, yeah, that’s about it. But I’m always positive.”
Pressed on the matter, Bottas outlined how F1 is his “most likely” destination for next season, but did not rule out a “hypothetical” move to another series, specifically mentioning IndyCar as a Plan B.
“I don’t think it’s necessary to think about that too much,” began Bottas. “Now, I think for me [it’s] very clear where I want to be, and where I most likely will be, which is in Formula 1.
“ut let’s say if it’s a hypothetical question, if not Formula 1, I would definitely race. I’m a racer and I’ve been racing all my life, and I couldn’t just quit racing,” continued Bottas. “And plan B would be IndyCar, and to try and win the championship in X amount of years.”
Earlier this week SB Nation published an exclusive with the Sauber driver, diving into his contract future. His comments in Azerbaijan mirror those comments from earlier in the week.
“I’m still working on it,” said Bottas to SB Nation. “Making some progress, but that’s all I can say right now. Have had good discussions that will continue within the next days. That’s all I can give you. Eventually everything will be fine one way or another.”
His man fans are hoping that news comes sooner rather than later.
