Bottas To Start Talks With Audi In Early 2024

Sunday, 07 January 2024 at 00:00

Valtteri Bottas suggested he would like to continue with the Stake F1 team beyond the transition to Audi, as he expects to start negotiations in early 2024.

The 2024 silly season is around the corner, as 14 drivers who are part of the grid at this moment will see their contracts expire at the end of this year.

Many will want to have everything solved before the first race of the season, so the next two months might be pretty intense in terms of driver transfer speculations and announcements.

Valtteri Bottas is one of the drivers whose contract with their team expires at the end of 2024, and the Finn made it clear he does not plan to retire yet. According to motorsport.com, he said:

"F1 is the number one thing for me. I'm still hungry to get back on the podium eventually. The Audi project could be the next opportunity."

Read also

Audi Hits Major Roadblock In 2026 Debut Plans

There is one more year between the end of Bottas's contract and the transition to Audi, so the 34-year-old will for at least a two-year contract. He suggested the negotiations are about to begin.

"From my understanding, they're going to make decisions of the years ahead early [this] year. So not yet. I'm going to have those discussions in the first quarter of [this] year."

On the other hand, Audi will be a pretty lucrative place for drivers in F1, and many drivers might be interested in their two seats. Asked if he would also consider another team, the Stake driver responded:

"I would, of course. I'm just being really honest here. Being part of Audi would be my number one priority and preference."

Bottas made it clear his priority is Audi, and to be fair, the Finn has a lot of experience to offer to a new works team and might prove to be very useful for the team in terms of driver feedback. He added:

"But if for some reason not, then absolutely I would talk to [other teams]. I want to be around because I feel like I still have some unfinished things in this sport."