Tim Coronel tells experienced F1 driver he ‘should just quit’ after difficult 2024 season

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With 20 cars currently sitting on the Formula 1 grid and no desire from the paddock to allow any more teams to join them, the pressure on drivers to justify their place in the sport is growing.

This season has been exceptionally exciting on the track, but there’s been plenty of drama off it as well.

Carlos Sainz’s future was a saga that ran for months before he eventually decided to join Alex Albon at Williams.

Sergio Perez is under serious pressure at Red Bull for underperforming in recent months, while Kevin Magnussen has admitted his time in Formula 1 might be coming to an end.

Writing for the Formule.nl website, former F1 driver and pundit Tim Coronel was providing his verdict on another driver on the grid having a very tough time in 2024.

Sauber have yet to score a point this year and with a full takeover by manufacturing giants Audi on the horizon, serious improvements are needed quickly.

Zhou Guanyu is having a tough third season in Formula 1, but his veteran teammate Valtteri Bottas is struggling through by far the worst campaign of his career so far.

The £150,000-a-week Finnish driver is currently bottom of the Drivers’ Championship and Coronel believes it’s time for him to move on from the sport.

Not only that but he’s also suggested a young driver not currently on the grid who should be in line to take his seat in 2025.

READ MORE: Sauber driver Valtteri Bottas’ life outside F1 from girlfriend to wine and gin

Valtteri Bottas told he ‘should just quit’ Formula 1 after a difficult 2024 season

Speaking about the 34-year-old’s season so far, Coronel said: “From a driver like Valtteri Bottas, we should expect more. It’s always difficult when you end up from the best team to the worst team, but then I prefer that a young talent gets a chance there.

“Bottas should just quit, it’s done! Zero World Cup points, out!

“I know he doesn’t have the tools, but he chose it himself. I genuinely think it’s a shame. Do something else. Go do fun things in Finland or record funny videos and give this seat to someone else who needs it to gain experience and grow.

“Now he is destroying [the] careers of youth. Why doesn’t Felipe Drugovich drive [in] Formula 1?

“Bottas just hasn’t shown anything either. We call that aging. It’s like fish and fruit: at some point, it starts to rot.”

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber from team principal to Audi future

Will Valtteri Bottas still be on the Formula 1 grid next season?

There are realistically only two seats left for Bottas to fight for if he’s going to still be racing in F1 next season.

It’s hard to see Bottas moving to Alpine when they’ve got the likes of Jack Doohan available to them through their academy.

Zhou also has a connection with Alpine and if Bottas is going to drive for an underperforming team next season, he may as well stay where he is.

Audi’s previous boss Andreas Seidl wanted to get rid of Bottas but new chief Mattia Binotto may offer him a chance to hang onto his seat.

Bottas’s ideal role for 2025 was to stay at Sauber and help guide Audi into Formula 1 alongside Nico Hulkenberg.

That’s certainly still possible but if the team decide they want to match Hulkenberg’s experience with an up-and-coming driver, then Bottas may be in real trouble and have to pursue an alternative path next year.