Valtteri Bottas is one of those World Championship drivers who does not have a contract for 2025, and at the same time the only vacancy he has any chance of filling remains only at Sauber, the team he is playing for for the third season (the previous two years it was called Alfa Romeo).
Mika Hakkinen has been involved in Bottas’ career for years and believes it is too early to talk about its end.
“The chance that Valtteri’s Formula 1 career will continue remains high. But we’ll see,” the two-time world champion said at a sponsor event in Tallinn. – He has a lot of experience and I’ve always said that he’s a very talented racer. Team leaders appreciate his way of working. Bottas works really passionately and hardly complains.
Although now, given Sauber’s current form, he has something to complain about!”
Asked if he was concerned that next season could mark the end of a long tradition of no Finnish drivers in Formula 1 next season, Häkkinen turned thoughtful.
“I don’t know if I’m worried about this, probably not,” he answered after a short silence. – From a business perspective, of course, this is bad, because the television audience of Formula 1 in Finland will decrease significantly, because the interest in the championship will automatically decrease. But the world will not change if there is no Finn in F1.
However, I am convinced that this break will not last long. There are very fast kart drivers who can already handle pressure, so professionally there are no problems. Difficulties, as before, are only related to money.
But Tuukka Taponen is already studying at the Ferrari Racing Academy – perhaps he is now the closest to Formula 1. Next season he will compete in F3 or even go straight to F2, and he can certainly be considered one of the potential candidates. The doors to big motorsport are wide open for him.”
This season, Taponen competes in the European Formula Regional and takes 2nd place in the individual competition with three rounds to go, keeping him in mathematical contention for the title.
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
