Bottas wants 2021 F1 future resolved early
Valtteri Bottas wants to avoid dragging out contract negotiations with Mercedes over a 2021 Formula 1 deal, believing there was "too much unnecessary talk" outside of the team last year
Bottas has signed one-year contract extensions in each of the past three years with Mercedes, and is currently a free agent for the '21 season.
Mercedes publicly considered replacing Bottas with junior driver Esteban Ocon for 2020, but ultimately deciding to re-sign the Finn at the end of August.
Ocon landed a seat at Renault, having served as Mercedes' reserve driver through '19.
Bottas said he felt the team could learn from last year's negotiations and keep discussions internal through 2020, conceding it had distracted him through the middle of the season.
"I learned and the team also said they learned about how we handled that," Bottas said.
"It 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."
While Bottas is eager for an early resolution to talks for next year, he said it was too soon to start negotiations with Mercedes as the team prepares for the new season.
"Naturally you want to start talking quite early on, but at this point of the year, there is no point really. It's too early," Bottas said.
"We're pretty busy on focusing on performance.
"But we have a good relationship with Toto [Wolff] and everyone in the team, so when it's time, we can talk about things openly.
"I'm sure we also both ways learned last year about how we did it and communicated etc, and for sure it can be done a bit smoother and with less things happening around, headlines etc."
Sainz: McLaren's F1 rivals get "a lot of help" from bigger teams
Red Bull's Albon: F1 rivals would've discovered sneaky Mercedes DAS
Las Vegas approves plan to shut Strip for F1 race until 2032
Officials in Las Vegas have approved a plan to shut the Strip for the Formula 1 grand prix for the next 10 years as they eye a “lifetime in partnership.”
Porsche boss “as surprised as anyone” over Gulf-Williams F1 social media frenzy
Porsche’s head of motorsport Thomas Laudenbach found it “funny” that streamlining its Instagram channels caused a Formula 1 social media speculation frenzy last month.
Why Albon won't be "throwing around laptops" to gain a 2023 F1 edge
OPINION: At the Williams 2023 Formula 1 season launch, Alex Albon’s easy-going nature was again a point of focus. But does being “too nice” really matter in modern F1? Albon’s own expressions put that in an intriguing new light
Why Alfa Romeo has kept its blade roll hoop on 2023 F1 car
The Alfa Romeo Formula 1 team has retained its unique blade roll hoop for the C43 but designed it to withstand load tests that the FIA will introduce in 2024.
Why Albon won't be "throwing around laptops" to gain a 2023 F1 edge
OPINION: At the Williams 2023 Formula 1 season launch, Alex Albon’s easy-going nature was again a point of focus. But does being “too nice” really matter in modern F1? Albon’s own expressions put that in an intriguing new light
How the last Sauber-built Alfa offers F1 2023 evolution clues
Alfa Romeo has become the first Formula 1 team to reveal a new car for 2023, in addition to a fresh livery. This offered a first look at some of the understated changes produced by the revised regulations, along with points of convergence in the second year of the ground effect rules
The pioneering F1 car that preceded Lotus’s terminal decline
In the hands of Ayrton Senna the actively suspended 99T would be the last F1 race-winning Lotus but, as STUART CODLING reveals, it was a complicated machine that caused more problems than it solved
How Tyrrell became a racing Rubik’s cube as it faded out of F1
Formula 1’s transformation into a global sport meant the gradual extinction for a small team determined to stay true to its low-budget roots. But Tyrrell would eventually be reborn as a world-beating outfit again, explains MAURICE HAMILTON, albeit in different colours…
Assessing Hamilton's remarkable decade as a Mercedes F1 driver
Many doubted Lewis Hamilton’s move from McLaren to Mercedes for the 2013 Formula 1 season. But the journey he’s been on since has taken the Briton to new heights - and to a further six world championship titles
Why new look Haas is a litmus test for Formula 1’s new era
OPINION: With teams outside the top three having struggled in Formula 1 in recent seasons, the rules changes introduced in 2022 should have more of an impact this season. How well Haas does, as the poster child for the kind of team that F1 wanted to be able to challenge at the front, is crucial
The Mercedes F1 pressure changes under 10 years of Toto Wolff
OPINION: Although the central building blocks for Mercedes’ recent, long-lasting Formula 1 success were installed before he joined the team, Toto Wolff has been instrumental in ensuring it maximised its finally-realised potential after years of underachievement. The 10-year anniversary of Wolff joining Mercedes marks the perfect time to assess his work
The all-French F1 partnership that Ocon and Gasly hope to emulate
Alpine’s signing of Pierre Gasly alongside Esteban Ocon revives memories of a famous all-French line-up, albeit in the red of Ferrari, for BEN EDWARDS. Can the former AlphaTauri man's arrival help the French team on its path back to winning ways in a tribute act to the Prancing Horse's title-winning 1983?
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.