Bottas sets soft August deadline for Mercedes contract talks

Valtteri Bottas has expressed hope negotiations over his Mercedes future will begin by the F1 summer break.

Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton has already expressed his desire to have a new contract with Mercedes in place by the August shutdown after negotiations on his current deal spilt over into January of this year.

Although Hamilton looks almost certain to remain with the German manufacturer into the new era of aerodynamic regulations next year, Bottas' future is less secure with Williams driver George Russell chasing a seat with the championship-winning team.

Asked if he had set a personal deadline for a deal to be finalised, Bottas said: “Honestly, it’s always better earlier.

"I’ve had contracts early, I’ve had contracts too late and it almost becomes a distraction. But to be honest, I haven’t really thought about it yet.

“That is an honest answer. I am just really focusing on these races now and that moment when we start to talk, it will come eventually, but for sure, about my future, the August break is normally a good deadline."

After four races this year, Bottas is third in the drivers' standings after finishing third in each of the three races where he has seen the chequered flag, but is already 47 points behind championship leader Hamilton.

The Finn, however, still harbours ambitions to win the title for himself and added of the negotiations: "To be honest, I don’t want to think about it yet.

"I just want to win races. That is the only thing on my mind at the moment.”

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