The 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix could end up being the final Formula 1 race of Valtteri Bottas’ career.
Valtteri Bottas has not had an easy season at Sauber and for the first time in F1 career, finished a campaign without scoring a point.
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend started well for Bottas, reaching Q3 and outqualifying the Red Bull of Sergio Perez.
Bottas admitted after qualifying that it was ‘one of the best laps of my life’ but that’s where the positives ended for the Finn.
Unfortunately, an eventful first lap saw both Red Bull drivers facing the wrong direction at one point.
Max Verstappen apologised to Oscar Piastri for crashing into his McLaren, before Bottas made contact with Perez.
Going into the first chicane of the lap, Perez took a tighter entry into the corner than Bottas would have liked and he spun the Mexican driver’s Red Bull, causing damage that brought his race to an end.
Valtteri Bottas might have ‘spied an opportunity’ to take Sergio Perez’s Red Bull seat
Harry Benjamin was speaking on the Chequered Flag Podcast and discussed the Finnish driver’s future.
Not only that, but Perez could be about to lose his Red Bull seat, and Benjamin believes that the 10-time race winner may see a chance to slot into his place.
He said: “There are still a lot of question marks over Sergio Pérez in the second Red Bull seat.
“The rhetoric that is coming out from Christian Horner and Helmut Marko, the big bosses at Red Bull, it sounds like, well, Pérez’s future, even though he’s got a contract signed in his pocket, it’s still yet to be determined.
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“There’s a big meeting on Monday. Are any of the RB drivers in the junior program good enough or any better than what Pérez will deliver?
“Maybe Bottas has spied an opportunity here as a qualified number two driver, he could be a good fit at Red Bull.
“But then again, that’s what we all said about Pérez and look what happened.”
Valtteri Bottas unlikely to have improved his reputation at Red Bull after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
If Bottas did have aspirations of racing for Red Bull next season, crashing into Perez may have done him more harm than good.
He’s been an phenomenal driver throughout his F1 career, but the last three years with Alfa Romeo and Sauber have been difficult to say the least.
Bottas suggested his move to Sauber was a ‘mistake’, via is.fi, but a move to Red Bull is unlikely to have ever been on the cards.
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Ted Kravitz can’t understand why Helmut Marko doesn’t like Bottas, but the Red Bull chief has an important say in both Red Bull team’s line-ups.
Bottas will have a five-place grid penalty if and when he returns to Formula 1.
He misjudged a defensive move on Kevin Magnussen on old tyres and harpooned the Haas driver going into the same chicane as where he hit Perez.
Mercedes could sign Bottas as a reserve driver and that will keep him in the mix if any race seats become available during the 2025 season or for the following year.
