What’s next for Valtteri Bottas? A trip home to Mercedes
Valtteri Bottas is coming home.
The Finnish driver announced on Thursday that he was returning to Mercedes for the Formula 1 season, as the team’s reserve driver. Bottas spent five F1 seasons driving for Mercedes alongside Lewis Hamilton, helping the team win five consecutive F1 Constructors’ Championships.
After Mercedes made the decision to pair Hamilton with George Russell for the 2022 season Bottas drove for Alfa Romeo — which became Sauber this past year — for the past three years. However, Bottas was out of a role when the team announced that Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto would be their drivers for 2025, ahead of the team becoming the Audi works operation in 2026.
That kicked off speculation regarding Bottas’ decision for 2025, fueled by the driver’s humorous “[w]hat’s next?” posts on social media.
Now we know.
“I’m happy to finally answer the question I’ve posed over the past month. Returning home to the Mercedes family as Third Driver for 2025 is what’s next and I couldn’t be more pleased,” said Bottas in the team’s announcement. “I want to thank Toto, the team at Brackley, and everyone at the three-pointed star for welcoming me back with open arms.
“Despite the challenges of the past few years, I know that I’ve still got so much more to contribute to F1. Since I was a five-year-old kid growing up in Nastola, Finland, my focus has been on achieving success in the top tier of motorsport,” added Bottas. “I’ve been fortunate to have enjoyed many incredible moments in my 12 years of racing in F1 so far. As I return to the place where so many of those moments were achieved, I’m looking forward to using all the knowledge I’ve gained to help the team to perform and progress towards our goal of fighting for world championships.”
The team announced the move on social media in perfect fashion, with an image featuring the driver’s distinctive mustache and mullet:
What’s next… pic.twitter.com/bTJDVtlLZ4
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) December 19, 2024
Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff sang the driver’s praises.
“Welcome home, Valtteri! It’s great to have you back. His impact and contribution in the five years he was with us previously as our race driver was immense,” said Wolff. “Along with scoring multiple Grands Prix wins, he played a vital role in five of our championship victories. His technical feedback and input were important in helping us to those successes and pushing the team forward.
“Not only that, but he was also a fantastic colleague and team member. His dry sense of humour and personable nature made him a firm favourite with everyone at Brackley and Brixworth. In his role as Reserve Driver, all those qualities will be incredibly important in helping us compete for world championships and supporting both George and Kimi on track.”
Mercedes will have George Russell and rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli as their driver pairing for 2025. But with Bottas, they gain a driver with impressive F1 experience, ten career grand prix victories, 20 pole positions, and as Wolff noted the ability to provide excellent technical feedback throughout the season, a critical component in the role of reserve driver.
They also get one of the sport’s best personalities to boot.
