Valtteri Bottas claims driver has made WRONG choice on F1 return

Valtteri Bottas has suggested that an axed F1 star may not have made the right decision as he looks for a way back into the sport.

Bottas himself was axed at the end of the 2024 season by Sauber, and has spent 2025 as a reserve driver with Mercedes, while negotiating a potential return to a full-time seat with other teams.

He has now secured himself a drive for 2026, with the new Cadillac team opting to take a chance on the Finn and Sergio Perez as their mightily experienced lineup for their first season in the sport.

This meant that other stars, such as Zhou Guanyu and Mick Schumacher were snubbed as they also look for a way back into F1, and for Schumacher, his chances of getting back into the series look slim.

The 26-year-old has been racing in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) with Alpine for the last couple of years, but is now looking at a career in IndyCar, having been chosen to complete a test for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

However, Bottas has suggested that this may not be the best route to take for Schumacher, claiming that F1 bosses may begin to forget about the young German.

"I'm not sure it's the right decision to move to the IndyCar series," the Finn told Auto Motor und Sport.

"People quickly get the impression that you're taking a different path. I would rather stay in the WEC and simultaneously pursue an F1 role."

Mick Schumacher's F1 career

Schumacher is the son of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, and raced himself in the sport in the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

The young German drove with Haas in those two years, but was unexpectedly axed at the end of the 2022 season after a number of costly crashes, with then-team principal Guenther Steiner opting for a more experienced driver lineup for 2023.

Schumacher had won the 2020 F2 championship and there was a lot of hope surrounding his future career in F1, but now he is excelling in other racing series.

In the WEC this season, he has achieved two podiums with the Alpine Endurance team.

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