F1 star makes 'good start' admission amid doubts over future

F1 Superstars

F1 star makes 'good start' admission amid doubts over future

Their contract is up for renewal in 2024

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Tuesday 16 January 2024 13:12

Stake F1 driver Valtteri Bottas has said that he wants his contract situation to be 'fixed for the future earlier rather than later' in order to avoid any distractions.

The Finn has been able to outperform team-mate Zhou Guanyu for the last two seasons that the pair have spent together at Alfa Romeo (now Stake), but his current contract is due to expire at the end of 2024.

While he has recently said that he wants to stick with the Sauber-owned team in order to be in with the best possible chance of joining the new Audi team in 2026, the choice may be out of his hands.

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At 34, Bottas knows that he will need to continue impressing or risk being replaced by a young, up-and-coming driver like Theo Pourchaire, who is the team's test and reserve driver.

Maintaining the dominance over Zhou, who finished 43 points behind Bottas in 2022 but only four points behind in 2023, is likely to be crucial for the former-Mercedes driver.

Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu have formed a reliable partnership over the last two seasons

Valtteri Bottas drove alongside Lewis Hamilton for five seasons at Mercedes

Valtteri Bottas will drive with the newly-named Stake F1 team in 2024

Bottas' contract situation

Now, Bottas has revealed his desire to get off to a good start in the season in order to avoid any unwanted media speculation.

“Of course, I would like to have a good start to the year because I would ideally have things fixed for the future earlier rather than later in the season because it can always become a bit of a distraction," he told Adelaide Now.com.

“But it is not really a new situation for me so I think it should be good to try and do my best and eventually there will be a time to talk to the team and we will see.”

Mercedes Audi Valtteri Bottas Zhou Guanyu Theo Pourchaire