Valtteri Bottas could sign off his career at Sauber and potentially F1 by finishing in the points during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The Finn is one of two drivers that have not got any points on the board this year, the other being American Logan Sargeant who was dropped by Williams after the Dutch Grand Prix.
Bottas is set to lose out on a seat for the 2025 season after a lacklustre year in Sauber, with management in charge of the Audi project deciding to choose Nico Hulkenberg and F2 champion Gabriel Bortoleto instead.
After a strong qualifying performance ahead of the Abu Dhabi GP, former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer thinks Bottas will be ‘annoyed’ having contended in 2024 with the worst car of the season when speaking on the BBC Chequered Flag podcast.
Jolyon Palmer explains why Valtteri Bottas will be ‘annoyed’ with 2024 season
Bottas has undoubtedly had to contend with the worst car on the grid this year, with Sauber looking close to replicating their first non-scoring season since 2014.
However, a good pit-stop strategy in Qatar enabled Zhou Guanyu to take their first points and put them close to outscoring Williams if they have a strong finish in Abu Dhabi.
Sauber has continuously brought upgrades to their car in 2024, with that hard work paying off in Qatar. But considering Bottas has outscored Zhou, Palmer thinks he will be annoyed with his season.
“You would be annoyed. Bottas has been consistently ahead of Zhou, he’s been comfortably ahead of Zhou in qualifying. Said ‘That was as fast as she goes’ in Q2 then found another tenth and a half in Q3 to out-qualify Perez,” said Palmer.
“When you’ve done that and Zhou comes through in 8th place and gets all the plaudits in Qatar, you’re just like ‘Really? I’ve drilled this guy all season and then he’s getting all the credit?’ He was unlucky in Qatar with all the incidents around him.”
What is next for Valtteri Bottas after Sauber exit?
Bottas has been wearing a shirt that asks “What’s next?” in the F1 paddock for the final two races, leading everyone to question exactly that for the Finn.
It is expected that Bottas will take up a reserve driver role with Mercedes for the 2025 season, rekindling their partnership after breaking away at the end of the 2021 season.
READ MORE: Sauber driver Valtteri Bottas’ life outside F1 from girlfriend to wine and gin
He will be replacing Mick Schumacher who is set to leave Mercedes after this year to pursue his sports car career with Alpine, having had some success with that programme.
Bottas will be a great addition to Mercedes with Andrea Kimi Antonelli joining next year, with him able to guide the 18-year-old in his rookie season.
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