Valtteri Bottas confident he’s ‘driving better than at Mercedes’ as he aims to seal Sauber deal for 2025

Valtteri Bottas believes that he is now driving better than he did during his five-year stint with Mercedes, but the Finn acknowledges that his level of performance is “not that visible” on the outside given the challenging season that Kick Sauber have faced so far.

After joining the Silver Arrows in 2017 following Nico Rosberg’s decision to retire from Formula 1, Bottas quickly enjoyed success at the team, scoring his debut victory four races in at Sochi before adding two more race wins to his tally that season.

While there were some ups and downs to follow – with 2018 proving a particularly difficult campaign for the driver from Nastola – the years that followed brought seven more victories for Bottas, while he also took a total of 20 pole positions and 58 podiums in his time with Mercedes.

Following the squad’s decision to replace him with George Russell in 2022, Bottas joined the Sauber outfit where his best result to date has been a P5. The 2024 season has proven especially tough for the team, as they have failed to score a point so far.

SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE - SEPTEMBER 22: Valtteri Bottas of Finland driving the (77) Kick Sauber C44 — Bottas and Kick Sauber are yet to score points in 2024, with the Finn's best result so far being a P13

With Bottas’s future yet to be decided – as one seat remains at Kick Sauber, with Nico Hulkenberg the only driver confirmed at the team for 2025 – the 35-year-old was asked during the Singapore Grand Prix weekend if the team’s struggles have complicated matters in terms of securing his seat.

“Yeah, it's how the sport is,” Bottas responded. “I think it's not just this season, but if you look at this season and the last season, when you're fighting towards the back, obviously, it's much less visible on what you can do and what kind of performances are you having.

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“It's pretty much against your team mate that you can have a comparison so, for sure, you're more out there if you're fighting within the points and towards the front end. That's just how it goes so, for sure, it has not been helping the situation.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 17: Valtteri BOTTAS of Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport celebrates — Bottas claimed 10 wins during his five-year stint with Mercedes, as well as 58 podiums and 20 pole positions

“But, yeah, there are still people in the paddock who know what the real performance is and especially within the team. They know how I'm performing weekend to weekend and that's the main thing. I just need the people who need to know to know how I'm performing and that's what matters.”

Pushed on whether he feels he is driving as well this year as when he was winning races at Mercedes, Bottas explained: “I feel like, yes, especially in qualifying this year. I haven't felt any signs of being worse. If anything, you keep getting better with experience.

“You gain more consistency, more confidence. You can solve different issues in a different way. You can adapt to the car the more time you spend in the sport.

“I feel actually I'm driving better than what I did at Mercedes, but obviously it's not that visible.”