Bottas nervous for F1 future as key deadline missed

Valtteri Bottas admits the longer the wait for his F1 future to be sealed, the more “nerve-racking” it will become.

The Finnish driver is out of contract at Stake at the end of the current season, and had hoped to have secured his future in F1 by now.

However, Carlos Sainz has slowed the market – something that is impacting a number of drivers in addition to Bottas. 

It is now looking increasingly likely that the Spaniard’s future will not be decided until after the summer break – a prospect Bottas is not relishing. However, the 10-time grand prix winner offered a word of caution to Sainz.

“Still waiting,” the 34-year-old told media including RacingNews365. “Maybe for Carlos [Sainz], but maybe not.

“At some point I don’t think everyone is going to probably wait for him, but I’m still waiting for something.”

Wait for F1 certainty getting more ‘nerve-racking’

The outgoing Ferrari driver is seemingly top of the wish list at Williams, Alpine and Stake, at least for now.

As he takes his time over his decision, driver movements have largely stagnated – apart from at Haas, which has recently confirmed Oliver Bearman will be joined by another new driver next season, with Kevin Magnussen leaving the American outfit at the end of 2024.

Bottas is thought to still be in the running for all three aforementioned seats, but is not the leading candidate for any.

When quizzed on how long the waiting for answers – and certainty – might be, Bottas did not try to hide the lack of clarity afforded him.

“That’s a very good question,” he replied. “If I’m honest, I was hoping that things would be sorted before this weekend [in Hungary], because there was a weekend off. 

“I still gotta wait for a bit, but I don’t have a clear answer for how long.

“Obviously, for me, I’m getting to the point that hopefully sooner [rather] than later. As everyone knows, if things drag on to the August break – after the August break it can start to become quite nerve-racking.”