Mercedes have brought Valtteri Bottas back into the fold as a “Plan B” should Kimi Antonelli’s crash rate become too much for the team, says Christian Danner.

Bottas has rejoined Mercedes ahead of the F1 2025 season, the Finn signed as the team’s official reserve driver in support of Antonelli and George Russell.

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He spent five seasons with Mercedes from 2017 to 2021 as a “sensational wingman” to Lewis Hamilton and claimed four top-three results in the standings while helping to extend Mercedes’ run of Constructors’ titles to eight on the trot.

However, potentially facing the end of his Formula 1 career after being dropped by Sauber in favour of rookie driver Gabriel Bortoleto, the 35-year-old has returned to Mercedes. But he’s done so as a reserve driver.

Bottas will be the support act to Mercedes’ 2025 driver line-up of Russell and rookie driver Antonelli while also taking on a mentoring role for 18-year-old Italian.

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“Part of Valtteri’s job will be to look after Kimi,” said Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff. “To be there, to coach him, to constantly keep an eye on what is happening on the track.”

However, another part of his job could be “Plan B” should Antonelli fail to deliver amidst claims that his crashes in the Mercedes’ F1 cars in the build-up to his debut campaign were not limited to his shunt in FP1 at Monza.

“Antonelli is of course a bit of a surprise package at Mercedes,” former F1 driver Danner told Motorsport-Magazin’s YouTube channel. “Will he work?

“Everyone says, wow, great things, what an incredible talent and now at the end, he’s racing against George Russell.

“It could also happen that he’s fast but crashes, he did that often enough, not just in Monza when he was there for the first time, but above during the test drives with these TPC cars.

“So, I think they made the choice of the third driver with Bottas quite considerably.

“They definitely have a Plan B if it takes longer with Antonelli, but Antonelli is really fast, so he can do that there, there’s no question.”

Danner is not the first former F1 driver to speculate about the potential ramifications of Bottas’ return to the Mercedes fold.

Speaking with CasasDeApuestas.bet last month, former Williams and McLaren driver Juan Pablo Montoya called Bottas a “safety net” should Antonelli fail to deliver.

“Kimi Antonelli is in the spotlight in one of the best teams out there with a team-mate who is doing a mega job,” said the seven-time Grand Prix winner. “And you’re being sold as the next Max Verstappen.

“If he doesn’t deliver, that’s tough.

“My reading is that with Bottas, Mercedes would be covering their arse. He’s a safety net to have somebody in case it doesn’t work with Antonelli and he knows that.”

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