Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, Suzuka, 2019

Bottas: Staying at Mercedes in 2021 would be a “no-brainer”

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In the round-up: Valtteri Bottas says he will be open-minded about his potential destination for the 2021 F1 season but remaining at Mercedes would obviously make sense.

What they say

Bottas joined Mercedes from Williams in 2017 and has won seven races in that time. He extended his contract by one year last season.

Like every single other driver, I will look at all the possible options at the moment would be now if I would decide about my future for ’21.

For me, it would be a no-brainer to continue with this team because I really enjoy it. We’re performing well all together and I’m learning a lot with them and becoming a better driver all the time. So that’s my thinking at the moment.

Obviously we’ll see as next season starts and what the team is thinking for the future and so on. So there’s many elements, obviously, that have to have to come together. But at the same time, I need to keep my eyes open and be open-minded about the future.

Quotes: Dieter Rencken

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Comment of the day

This week’s debate question asks which team has the best driver line-up for the 2020 F1 season?

Who would I want in the cars?

If I had driver and constructors championship prospects, it would be Hamilton and Bottas by the slimmest of margins over Verstappen and Albon. Close enough I wouldn’t change anything if I was either team. Vettel and Leclerc are fast but were collectively a pain.

In the midfield McLaren or Renault. I think I’d rather have Sainz and Norris, because I have a hunch Ricciardo and Ocon will be a difficult pairing.
RP (@Slotopen)

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On this day in F1

Felipe Massa, Sauber C24, Valencia, 2005
Felipe Massa, Sauber C24, Valencia, 2005
  • 15 years ago today Felipe Massa gave the new Sauber C24 its first run at the Valencia circuit in Spain. The car, powered by a Petronas-badged Ferrari engine, sported an unusual front wing design

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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19 comments on “Bottas: Staying at Mercedes in 2021 would be a “no-brainer””

  1. That ’05 Villeneuve picture is straight from horror movie.. if you get what I mean :)

    1. @qeki Indeed it is, LOL.

  2. Very interesting article by Mark Hughes about Haas – not just in what caused their troubles this year, but also their model, and the implications it could have on Gene’s stint in F1.

    This is where the team’s small size really tripped it up. There simply weren’t many resources to throw at such a curveball problem, one which required a lot of depth of research and expertise.

    “A bigger team would have diagnosed it after Bahrain,” said chief engineer Ayo Komatsu, “and it would have had test parts for Barcelona and introduced it at race seven [Montreal]. But we don’t have that capability.”

    But it raises further questions, given the regulation re-set in 2021 and whether Gene Haas’ enthusiasm for this project can be re-ignited. The boss himself admits that from the outset he generally under-estimated the inbuilt advantages of the bigger teams.

    1. @phylyp, Indeed and further proof, if any was required, that the pirelli high-deg. tyres are a ball-and-chain around the ankles of the teams in the way they punish driving at the limit of adhesion. The sooner F1 wakes up and demands tyres as effective and reliable as they demand the PUs to be the better. Death to the gimmickmungers !

    2. It was a great article. One hopes that Gene won’t decide to just walk away but its certainly not inconceivable.

      I’m pretty sure they weren’t the only ones suffering tyre issues early but the fact that they simply didn’t have the resources to address it is concerning and does not bode well for 2020 or for that matter 2021 so I’m sure Gunther will have to do some very smooth talking to keep Gene interested.

      1. I too hope Gene doesn’t throw in the towel, but on the other hand I wouldn’t blame him if he did. On the one hand Haas don’t understand the 2019 spec tyres, and on the other hand they voted to keep them rather than opt for the improved 2020 spec tyres. Where is the evidence they now have a better understanding of how the tyres will behave at each GP this year?
        We can also ask why they kept the same driver lineup as last year considering they collided with each other in a race?
        Haas (the team) should be working hard to make sure Mr Haas (their boss) is happy, but it seems to me they’ve taken his investment lightly.

  3. The ‘What They Say’ and F1-articles are old news, though.
    I share the same views as the COTD, although I wouldn’t jump to definite conclusions about the Renault line-up yet.

    1. Yeah the “What They Said Last Year” quote was from 30 December 2019, @jerejj.
      At least that article was co-written by Dieter, but it remains disappointing to read old news in a daily round-up.

  4. roberto giacometti
    14th January 2020, 5:34

    Let me guess _ we are gonna see Bottas 3.0 !!!!!! Snoooooozefest 3.0 coming up !!!
    Stick a young gun in there – Mercedes should have put Ocon in the number 2 car – and yes – for all the words and mullarkeys and stories , and contradictions and denials , we all know that IT IS the number 2 car – who are they trying to kid ? Honestly?

    1. No way is Ocon going to get the “Number Two” seat at either Mercedes or Ferrari. Josh Verstappen wasn’t going to allow that. Ocon was lucky to get his seat at Renault. Hopefully he now knows better than to crash into Max, especially when he’s leading a race, otherwise he might be sidelined for another year (or two). Sure, Mercedes could replace Valtteri with George Russell, but why would they? He’s second on the WDC points table (2019 season).
      I think Mercedes wanted Daniel Ricciardo to replace Valtteri, so I don’t know why they didn’t replace him when the opportunity came along. Anyway, they didn’t, so Valtteri has another chance, at least in theory, of competing for the WDC. Unfortunately, I doubt that he’s got much chance when you consider he will have to fight Lewis, Max, and Charles for the title (unless he’s got big elbows).

      1. @drycrust Sorry, remind me, what has Jos (not Josh) Verstappen got to do with Ocon’s contracts?

        1. Of course Jos raced for Tyrrell, which became BAR, which became Honda, which became Brawn GP, which is now Mercedes, @robbie.
          Jos might still know the man at the door.

          I guess his old acquaintance at Renault (Benetton) was sick when Ocon called ;)

  5. Bottas being a bit too finnish, you ought play better poker than that.

  6. Not sure if anyone has seen this, but there is an article quoting Pat Symonds on a new engine formula for 2025. He is quoted as saying “I’m very keen on it being a two-stroke [engine]”

    Linked here

    NOt sure how likely this is – but a good discussion topic?

    1. wow – I formatted that badly. Anyway, just click on the blue text for the link – sorry :)

  7. Is it just me, or does watching that onboard video around Silverstone give a far greater sence of speed through the corners compared to the real onboards?

    Imo the cameras used by FOM are too good and just dissolve the epic scale of the capabilities of these cars. Such a shame.

    1. F1 TV is one of mine perennial complains

Comments are closed.