Valtteri Bottas sends ‘high priority’ message to Audi with F1 future still unclear

Valtteri Bottas wants his F1 future ‘sorted’ during the upcoming break ahead of next month’s United States Grand Prix.

Audi are still yet to decide who will partner Nico Hulkenberg at Sauber for the 2025 F1 season.

Bottas is reportedly the leading candidate to take the seat for next year albeit on a one-year deal.

Mattia Binotto is considering potential younger options though with McLaren junior Gabriele Bortoleto on his radar.

Williams’ Franco Colapinto would also be available for Sauber, with James Vowles keen to make a deal work.

Bottas sits last in the F1 drivers’ championship and he’s yet to score a point this year.

The Finn has only been out-qualified once by Sauber teammate Zhou Guanyu, highlighting the raw speed he still has particularly over one lap.

Speaking to F1TV after the race in Singapore, Bottas outlined his hopes for the upcoming break.

“First of all, try to find performance, evaluating what exactly is going to be the upgrade for Austin, which is very much needed,” Bottas said.

“And sorting things out for the future, that’s obviously high on my priority list because it’s starting to feel almost like Christmas time, you know it’s getting close so better get it sorted.”

For Bottas in Singapore, he was out-raced by Zhou after running wide early on due to overheating brakes.

After that, the pair worked together to keep Alpine’s Pierre Gasly behind.

“It was still not an easy day like expected, and also no help from safety cars,” he added.

“I just had an issue with my brakes at the beginning of the race. They overheated and I started locking up, so lost some time there. If I look at the race, I don’t think we would actually do much different.

“We could also work together as a team at the end of the race to keep Gasly behind and that was good, so I think we maximised today.”