Over the last week or so, a persistent rumour has emerged that Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes F1 driver and teammate to Lewis Hamilton, has been in talks with Red Bull Racing; Formula 1 Championship rivals and team to chief protagonist Max Verstappen.
If this were to be the case, Mercedes AMG Formula 1 team would be very worried. Bottas, with an intimate knowledge of the team and crucially the car, would be able to provide Verstappens’ team, Red Bull, with valuable information and secrets.
Such is the issue, usually, if a principal senior team member switches teams, ‘gardening leave’ is required to prevent industrial espionage. Not so with drivers…
That said, Bottas would also benefit from such a rumour. The mere threat of such a move could provide the Finn with ammunition and a reason for team boss Toto Wolff to keep the driver on with Lewis Hamilton.
The press and media, putting pressure on Red Bull for a statement, has managed to get one from the reliable Dr Helmut Marko, chief Red Bull motorsport consultant. The Austrian admitted that options were being explored, but did not confirm this rumour.
“What I can tell you is that there are some options, we are considering them, but I don’t want to name names,” the Austrian replied.
“The first intention would be to continue with the four drivers we have. For the announcement, it will probably be at Spa or at Zandvoort if we fall behind. What is already certain is that we will announce our four drivers, both for AlphaTauri and Red Bull.”
Indeed, it appears that Red Bull Racing engineers have been analysing the performances from the 11 races at length.
“There is a gap with Max and he [Perez] is not happy about it. We [Red Bull] would also expect him to be closer or more consistent after so many races. He’s tried to find his own set-up instead of using Max’s, and maybe that’s the best thing for a driver to do.”
“You can’t be too close to Max’s settings. Max doesn’t care when his F1 car oversteers in fast corners. But all our 2nd drivers have had problems with that.”
“Perez has experienced the same thing. He tried his set-up but it didn’t work, it’s a real headache.”
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
I reckon both lineups will remain unchanged, and I’d certainly be surprised if RB replaced an outsider (PER) with another outsider (BOT).
Why not? If Red Bull consider Bottas a better driver than Perez, which I happen to do, why not sign Bottas and also get all the M-B intel he has.
Honestly this is such utter bollocks. You should be ashamed of yourselves.
This period is called the “silly season” for a reason, I guess the F1 articles will be a bit silly too (or just gossipy).
Bottas could talk with RedBull, could also be for a DTM drive when no F1 seat is available.
Really! Why ?
What a load of bollocks.
The author evidently doesn’t realise that Toto Wolff is Bottas’ manager! I doubt RBR would even consider talking to tot about signing Bottas!
Wollf doesn’t manage Bottas, the management company he co-owns with Mika Hakkinen does. Hakkinen is who manages Bottas. The point of a driver being managed by someone is to get the best deal for the driver – not the best deal for the management company.
Its a rumour
All we can do with that then is to keep it going, rev it up, add more fuel to the fire. What is wrong with a shovel load of, ahm….., nonsense?