After three years away, Valtteri Bottas will make his return to Mercedes in the 2025 Formula 1 season.
The Finn lost his seat at Sauber at the end of 2024 along with teammate Zhou Guanyu. The 35-year-old endured three difficult years with the Hinwil-based team as he struggled at the back with underdeveloped machinery.
With the 2025 grid filled, Bottas will remain in F1 in some capacity as he rejoins Mercedes as their reserve driver behind George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
Bottas says he has returned home as he rekindles his relationship with the team he shared five years with as Lewis Hamilton’s teammate between 2017-2021.
At first, the Finn acted as the number two driver, picking up an occasional win and several podiums, but was not able to get into the title mix with Hamilton and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel in 2017 and 2018.
But after the German began to struggle with consistency, Bottas looked to establish himself as a threat for the championship. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff believed he could fight for the title, but one key moment ultimately meant he failed to live up to the expectation.
Valtteri Bottas was left ‘hurt’ and did not recover from his retirement at the 2020 Eifel GP
Bottas found an extra gear in 2019 as he finished on the podium in nine of the first 10 races – winning two of them. Buthe could not get close to Hamilton as he settled for second.
The Finn took the lead of the 2020 championship with victory at the season opener in Austria, but he did not win again until Sochi – Hamilton won six races in that time.
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Heading into the Eifel Grand Prix at the Nurburgring, Bottas still had a chance of the title and took pole position. But on lap 18, he retired with a mechanical problem, shattering his championship hopes.
Wolff recalled on the Beyond The Grid podcast shortly after that race how much that retirement ‘hurt’ Bottas – and looking at his results that followed, the Finn never really recovered from that blow as he would not mount a serious championship challenge again in F1.
Looking back at the Eifel GP in 2020, Wolff said: “Valtteri wasn’t happy. I saw him after the race and I saw him at the airport and you could clearly see that it was a moment where that hurt, and hurt a lot.
“And I think that if you are a racing driver with his ambition, and his ambition is to become a world champion, and you realise you’ve just got a big hit for this year’s ambition, that is difficult to swallow.
“But, on the other side, he has been so resilient and I’m sure that he’s going to continue to push these championships and then next year, there’s another goal”.
Could Valtteri Bottas race again for Mercedes in 2025?
He may not be on the grid in 2025, but Bottas will prove useful for Mercedes this season with his experience and the fact he knows the team very well.
The Finn could even be called upon to replace either Russell or Antonelli if one of them falls unwell, or if the latter fails to perform in his rookie season.
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Bottas would be a reliable driver to put into the Mercedes in 2025 if the circumstances permitted it. His performance in Abu Dhabi by getting his Sauber into Q3 proves he still has the hunger and speed.
His move to the Silver Arrows is also great preparation for a potential return to a full-time seat in 2026.
Bottas has already had talks with Cadillac over a potential seat with F1’s 11th team. The American brand are looking for an experienced driver, and the Finn would be a great fit given he is a 10-time race winner.
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