Bottas Fully Committed To Mercedes In 2025, But Has One Eye On A 2026 Seat

Valtteri Bottas admits one of his roles in 2025 will be to serve as a “kind of mentor” to Lewis Hamilton’s replacement, teenager Kimi Antonelli.

Team boss Toto Wolff made the claim a few days ago, revealing that supporting Antonelli will be part of the ousted Sauber driver’s duties as he returns to Mercedes as reserve driver.

“I think you can see me as a kind of mentor,” Bottas, 35, said after returning to Europe from a long summer holiday in Australia.

“As a rookie there are so many new things to learn and I can definitely help with that.”

The Finn has committed to attending every single grand prix on the calendar, including all technical meetings involving both Antonelli and George Russell.

However, like Sergio Perez who is reportedly already in talks with Cadillac, Bottas is also keen to explore opportunities to return to the grid.

“I am fully committed to the upcoming season, fully committed to the team and I am trying to help them as much as I can,” said Bottas.

“But if the opportunity arises to race, I don’t think the team would be against it,” he added, following reports that Mercedes-powered McLaren or Williams may also call upon Bottas as a reserve if needed in 2025.

“Let’s see what happens, let’s get the season going and see what the next season and 2026 bring.”

F1 legend Gerhard Berger thinks it’s notable that other experienced F1 drivers in their mid-30s have also suddenly fallen from grace.

“It does seem that some of the older drivers like (Daniel) Ricciardo, Bottas and (Kevin) Magnussen didn’t get on so well with these ground effect cars,” he told Auto Motor und Sport.

“I don’t know if that was down to the cars or maybe they were just past their prime. The cars were pretty evenly balanced and when a young driver comes in with the spirit of a rookie, the older ones have a hard time.

“Only (Fernando) Alonso is doing well, but that is an isolated case.”