The "copy-paste" deal aiding a title protagonist's focus

The annual story surrounding Valtteri Bottas' Mercedes future was put to bed early this year after the team confirmed on Thursday he would be staying put for 2021.

It is a will-they-won't-they saga that has cropped up around this time of year throughout Bottas' time at Mercedes, but has always offered the same resolution: another one-year contract.

But there is a key difference for Bottas this time around. With negotiations reaching a swift and straightforward conclusion, the deal was announced just four races into the season, giving the Finn the freedom to focus on his title challenge without dwelling on his future.

Naturally there are extenuating factors in this, due to the revised schedule. A deal announced after four rounds is comparable of a contract ordinarily being sealed in April. But this is still the second-earliest date that Bottas' contract renewal has been announced in a year. The previous announcements have come on 13 September (for 2018), 20 July (for '19) and 29 August (for '20), making it one of the most-talked about stories across F1's typically-busy European swing.

The distraction it can pose was particularly noticeable last year. Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff was left weighing up Bottas and junior driver Esteban Ocon for the seat alongside Lewis Hamilton, and publicly spoke about the difficulty in deciding between the two.

"I've been wrestling within myself on what is the right thing for the team and what is the right thing for the drive," Wolff said in Hungary last year.

"There's lots of pros, some cons, and in the end what we decided is to really don't think about it more, wait for the Budapest weekend to pass, stick our heads together over the summer and come to a decision that is best for the team and best for both, because we care for both."

That decision was ultimately made to keep Bottas, paving the way for Ocon to sign a two-year deal with Renault and secure his F1 return. But coinciding with the wait for news on his future, Bottas' form had taken a dip.

He failed to win a race between April's Azerbaijan Grand Prix and the announcement of his new deal ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix. In the meantime, Hamilton had taken six victories, forging a commanding lead in the championship that he would never relinquish.

Speaking at pre-season testing this year, Bottas explained how building uncertainty had acted as a distraction, prompting both he and Mercedes to try and take some lessons from how negotiations had played out in 2019.

"Obviously it's special circumstances, and we kind of agreed before we knew how the season was going to be that we would hopefully get something done by, let's say, June. But of course, we didn't race even before June" Valtteri Bottas

"I learned, and the team also said they learned about how we handled that," Bottas said. "There was a bit too much unnecessary talk outside the team. Everything should have just been kept internal. I think it makes things easier, and for sure [we] learned that the earlier the decisions were made last year, it's always better.

"If you have to drag it on for August, September, then it kind of builds up and becomes more of a distraction. If things are done a couple of months earlier, then it makes it a lot more simple, because all the speculation only ramps up.

"For sure we learned, and hopefully we can do something before that, but we will see."

There was "no point", to quote Bottas, of opening talks as early as testing this year, but an early target was set of having discussions wrapped up by June.

Given Ocon was locked in at Renault and fellow Mercedes junior George Russell remained under contract at Williams, it did not seem there was any enormous threat to Bottas' position for 2021, even with the fluidity of the driver market and four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel's availability.

"I think everything went pretty smooth this time," Bottas said of the talks following confirmation of his new contract on Thursday. "Obviously it's special circumstances, and we kind of agreed before we knew how the season was going to be that we would hopefully get something done by, let's say, June. But of course, we didn't race even before June.

"We just said let's wait and see, let's focus on the first few races and eventually speak, then it just came pretty naturally. It was not that tricky, we could agree things pretty easy and smoothly.

"There was no outside distraction either. It was good. It definitely didn't hurt my performance at any of these first few races. It was not on my mind. That's how it should be done."

Bottas started the delayed 2020 season strongly with a commanding victory from pole in Austria before back-to-back podiums at the Styrian and Hungarian races. His tyre blow-out late on at Silverstone caused him to slump to 30 points behind Hamilton in the standings, meaning there is no argument for concerns about his future playing any kind of role in that gap opening up.

With Bottas now signed, attention shifts to Hamilton's future with Mercedes. The six-time world champion said on Thursday he did not feel it was yet the right time to sit down with the team and discuss a new contract, but remains relaxed, with both parties likely to reach a satisfactory conclusion.

Wolff said the ease with which he anticipates renewing Hamilton's contract was present in discussions with Bottas, allowing for talks to be completed quickly.

"With Valtteri, it's the same situation as Lewis: we have an absolute alignment," Wolff said. "They are very realistic. There is not a manager on the table who tries to optimise beyond a possible breaking point.

"And Valtteri was always like that. We are both not optimisers to the end to make one party leave the table with a bad feeling, so the discussion about renewing the contract took five minutes."

Bottas also took comfort from the lack of major change in talks over a new contract.

"For me at least, it was pretty much copy and paste with many things," Bottas said of his new deal. "There are always some things you might discuss, but everything was really straightforward. I'm sure it's more difficult for the lawyers and the people having to do the paperwork. I just do my signature. For me it's easy!"

Talks were also made straightforward by the fact Mercedes was only looking to extend for another year before getting in line with the new regulations, according to Wolff.

"He's trustworthy and does an incredible job on the track. I think it's a tribute to all the hard work he has done" Lewis Hamilton

"In 2022, the regulations change," he explained. "We love our current line-up, we respect the two, and we need to be open and flexible and see what happens beyond that.

"It doesn't mean that we haven't got any trust in either Valtteri or Lewis, but it's just important to have the option to look at the movements in the whole driver market."

It is worth nothing that both Russell and Ocon will be out of contract at the end of 2022, giving Mercedes free rein across all four of its affiliated drivers in F1. Hamilton was unsurprisingly happy to see Bottas stay on at Mercedes for a fifth year in 2021, when the Finn will likely surpass Nico Rosberg as Hamilton's longest-serving team-mate in F1.

"Consistency is always a good thing for a team, and Valtteri has had such a positive influence on the team over these five years," Hamilton said. "He's trustworthy and does an incredible job on the track, and is a great team-mate to all the people within the team. I think it's a tribute to all the hard work he has done."

Opinion pieces debating the role of Bottas as Hamilton's "wingman" - a term hated by Bottas himself - have been present throughout his time at Mercedes. They will likely persist until their partnership comes to an end, or if Bottas were to beat Hamilton to a world title.

The dominance of the Mercedes W11 car this year has left most anticipating a two-horse race for the title between Hamilton and Bottas. Given the cars will carry over to next season, that may also persist into 2021. It gives Bottas at least two more shots at being just the third driver to beat Hamilton across the course of a season, and only the second after Rosberg to do so while winning the title.

Completing such a herculean task will take a lot more than the comfort of a new contract. But it is nevertheless one less thing for Bottas to worry about as he plots his comeback in this year's title fight.