With George Russell and rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes has had its regular drivers in Formula 1 for 2025 for some time. However, it is still unclear who will fill the position as reserve driver next year. Mick Schumacher currently holds this job. However, Toto Wolff suggests that this will change soon.
Valtteri Bottas will probably stay in Formula 1 after leaving Sauber. The Finnish veteran will most likely return to Mercedes as a reserve driver. Team boss Toto Wolff confirmed this in an interview with “Viaplay” on the sidelines of qualifying in Las Vegas.
“The rumors? I mean, what can you say: If you have the opportunity to have a driver like Valtteri back in the Mercedes family, with his skills and his very fresh experience with modern cars, then you can only be great consider ourselves lucky,” said the Austrian.
Mick Schumacher before the end of Formula 1
In 2017, the Finn moved from Williams to the Silver Arrows as the successor to world champion Nico Rosberg, where he drove alongside Hamilton until 2021. He then moved to Alfa Romeo, today’s Sauber team. However, the future Audi racing team replaced the 35-year-old with Gabriel Bortoleto for the new season.
An agreement with Bottas “is only a matter of time,” Wolff continued: “So nothing has been signed, nothing is fixed. But if we could welcome him back into the family, we would all be full of joy.” For German F1 hopeful Mick Schumacher, however, the initiation of the Bottas deal is not good news.
The former Haas driver has been active as the third driver for the Silver Arrows for the past two years, where he wanted to recommend himself for a regular driver job in Formula 1. It is quite possible that the 25-year-old will concentrate entirely on the WEC with Alpine in 2025, as the dream of a future in the premier motorsport class has become a long way off.
Source: www.sport.de
