Toto Wolff in Las Vegas. (Image: Getty)
is set to salvage the F1 future of his former driver . The Finn with his current team, Sauber who will turn into Audi in the future, dropping him.
Although the German car manufacturer won’t be officially involved until 2026, they announced this month that Gabriel Bortoleto will partner for next season.
‘s sister team are now the only team yet to finalise their line-up, but the 35-year-old is not thought to be in the running given his age and strong links with the Silver Arrows.
Indeed, it seems it’s his former team where the man that once crowned his “greatest ever team-mate” will head to next. Bottas drove alongside the British icon from 2017 to 2021, winning 10 Grand Prix races and helping the team to five consecutive constructors’ titles.
He left following the controversial season-ending 2021 , joining Alfa Romeo before they rebranded to Kick Sauber this year. But he’s yet to score a single point in this campaign, and has just three races left to get off the mark.
But Wolff has now claimed a deal to re-sign Bottas is close, which will see him made a reserve driver for 2025. “Nothing is signed, nothing is done,” he told Viaplay. “But if we were to have him back in the family, we would be all full of joy.
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Valtteri Bottas previously spent five seasons at Mercedes. (Image: Getty)
“What you can say is that if you have the opportunity to have a driver like Valtteri back in the family, with his ability, with his most recent experience of these modern cars, you can deem yourself super lucky.”
There has also been speculation that Bottas will combine his driving with an advisory role at . And when asked if he was excited at the prospect of utilising the experience of the F1 veteran, Wolff answered emphatically.
“Very much,” he said, before offering a more humorous update. “You know how negotiations unfold at the end, lawyers always want to make contracts fail….I’m joking, they are great lawyers and it’s a matter of time.”
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Last year, Bottas confirmed that Wolff had rejoined his management team, an arrangement that had previously been scrapped when he left the Silver Arrows. The team principal had previously signed him from for the 2017 season, following the shock retirement of .
There’s been little indication this weekend that Bottas is about to embark on a successful farewell with his current team. He’ll start the Saturday night race 19th on the grid despite having made it through to Q2.
after the team exceeded the limit of power unit components by introducing a new energy store. Each driver is allowed two energy stores per season, but this will be the Finn’s fourth, breaching the FIA’s sporting regulations.