Valtteri Bottas isn’t mincing words about his time at Sauber – he now says joining the Formula 1 team “was a mistake.”
It’s a pretty brutal assessment from the Finnish driver, who’s leaving the team after just two years.
Before Sauber, Bottas had it pretty good. He spent five successful seasons with Mercedes (2017-2021), winning five constructors’ championships alongside Lewis Hamilton. That makes his current situation even tougher to swallow.
The timing couldn’t be worse for the 35-year-old. He’s now without a seat for 2025, after Sauber picked Nico Hulkenberg and F2 champ Gabriel Bortoleto instead of keeping him on.
“Everything started well off in the first year, but since then it was downhill,” Bottas said after his final race in Abu Dhabi. “You just can’t predict the future. That’s how it is.”
Things look pretty rough at Sauber right now. The team only managed to score points once this year, when Zhou Guanyu finished in the top 10 in Qatar.
What really stings for Bottas is that he had other options back in 2021, including a possible return to Williams. But he was sold on Sauber’s vision – largely thanks to then-team boss Fred Vasseur.
“Fred was a big part. We had a clear plan and targets for the three years,” Bottas explained. “But those plans and targets went into the bin when he left.”
Vasseur jumped ship to Ferrari, leaving Bottas in a tough spot. “I don’t blame him,” the Finn admitted. “If you have a chance to go to Ferrari, you go.”
There’s an extra layer of frustration here. Sauber is set to become Audi’s factory team in 2026, and Bottas was supposedly going to be a key part of that project.
“I got always told that I’m gonna be the pillar for the project, and that didn’t happen,” he said. “That had me over.”
But Bottas isn’t giving up on F1 just yet. He’s eyeing a reserve driver role, possibly with his old team Mercedes.
“I hope so, and that’s the target,” he said about staying in F1. “I think there will be opportunities, but I still need to keep driving, make sure I get some testing and be involved.”
When might we hear about his next move? Bottas cracked a smile: “Maybe next week. But first I need to sign something!”
