Bottas outlines sole Mercedes request to see replacing Hamilton ‘make sense’

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Valtteri Bottas has now outlined the sole request the Stake F1 Team Sauber driver would make Mercedes to see him return to the team and replace Lewis Hamilton.

The 34-year-old has emerged as an option for the Silver Arrows’ soon-to-be vacant drive in 2025. Hamilton will leave Mercedes after the 2024 season after signing a multi-year contract with Ferrari. The 39-year-old triggered the escape clause in his deal to replace Carlos Sainz.

Mercedes could turn to Bottas to join the man who replaced him in 2022, George Russell, as the Finn is out of contract with Sauber after 2024. Bottas agreed to an initial three-year deal to move to Hinwil, Switzerland after a five-season run as Hamilton’s teammate at Mercedes.

Bottas sets Mercedes one condition to replace Hamilton

Bottas now admits that discussions with Mercedes about replacing Hamilton in 2025 are ‘of course’ possible. But he will only entertain the idea of returning to Brackley if team principal Toto Wolff does what he never did from 2017 to 2021, offer more than a one-year contract.

“Only if it was a lot more than a one-year contract,” Bottas has emphasised to PlanetF1. “If it was a one-year deal, then it wouldn’t make sense for me. But, for long-term, of course there could be a discussion.”

Bottas won 10 of his 11 Grand Prix for the Silver Arrows

Bottas entered 101 Grand Prix for Mercedes after joining the Brackley outfit back in 2017 to replace Nico Rosberg. The Silver Arrows turned to the Nastola native after Rosberg shocked the Formula 1 paddock by retiring right after beating Hamilton to the drivers’ championship.

But Mercedes only ever awarded Bottas single-year contracts during his time with the team. So, the Finn often faced speculation surrounding his future, with Russell also later waiting in the wings to replace him. It was ultimately enough to tempt Bottas to leave and join Sauber.

Bottas told Beyond The Grid in November 2021: “I had decided myself that if I can’t get two years or more with Mercedes, I’m definitely going to go for something new. And it was a simple question of can he [team principal Wolff] offer me two years or more?

“He said, no he can’t at this moment. And then it was quite easy. Then it was very natural to get George in the car because he has been, kind of, part of the team for a long time. And it’s a new generation, and that’s also how the sport is evolving.”

Of his 101 Grand Prix for Mercedes, Bottas won 10 – including his first F1 victory at the 2017 Russian GP. He also took pole position 20 times and got on 58 podiums, after sealing seven with Williams. Bottas also finished second to Hamilton in the 2019 and 2020 championships.