Bottas now has ‘clear direction’ over F1 future with driver market ‘more straightforward’ after Sainz’s Williams deal

Valtteri Bottas has described news of Carlos Sainz’s move to Williams for the 2025 season as “one big piece of the puzzle” being settled in terms of F1’s driver market, with the Finn making clear that continuing at Kick Sauber is “where I want to be”.

Following Sainz’s long-awaited decision, the only teams yet to confirm their full driver line-ups for next season are Mercedes, Alpine, RB and Sauber, who announced earlier this year that they have signed Nico Hulkenberg from Haas.

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It comes as German automotive giants Audi prepare to take over the Sauber entry from 2026, when new regulations will come into play, with former Ferrari chief Mattia Binotto recently signed to take over as head of the project.

Asked for an update on his future ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix, Bottas said: “Obviously, we had a recent change in the driver market, as well as within our team in terms of leadership.

“Like I mentioned in Spa, that kind of reset the talks that I’ve had with the team. We did catch up with Mattia after Spa and we did continue the discussions this week. That’s about it, and now it’s time to focus on the race weekend.

“It just means there’s one big [piece] of the puzzle has been sorted with Carlos, and now obviously [I’m] discussing with Mattia. That’s where I want to be and stay for the long-term.”

Pushed on how Sainz’s news changes the driver market, the 10-time Grand Prix winner added: “I think now it makes things slightly more straightforward, let’s say. There’s less variables around. I’ve got a clear direction now for me, which is to be part of the Audi project, so let’s see.”

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Bottas admitted that settling his future has “dragged on a bit”, having originally hoped to do so “way before the summer break”, but noted how he went through similar experiences in the past with a string of one-year extensions at Mercedes.

“It did cross my mind sometimes on the summer break, because nothing is confirmed, but you need to live with the situation,” said Bottas, when asked if the wait to confirm his plans was annoying.

“In this sport, nothing is always straightforward or black and white. I’ve been in this situation before so it’s okay, and in any case, things will be sorted in one way or another.”

On the other side of the garage, Zhou Guanyu is also out of contract at the end of 2024, with the Chinese racer offering his reaction to the recent managerial changes at the organisation and where his own future plans stand.

“Mattia is a person that I knew from before, just because back in the day when I was with the Ferrari Academy, he was there in the race team,” he commented.

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“He officially only started in Hinwil this week on Monday, so there’s plenty of stuff, work that he has to extract and also go through behind the scenes. I think he’s having a quite busy couple of months ahead.

“I’m looking forward to be working with him, I’ve already had a few chats, spoke to him, and I think he can really bring his knowledge from the other team to us. I think it’s going to be very beneficial.”

Asked how much they have spoken about 2025, Zhou added: “We’re talking about it. Of course we spoke about that, that’s one of the topics going forward for the next few weeks, to see where I belong for next season and onwards.”