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

The British Grand Prix tyre failure that dropped Valtteri Bottas from second to scoring no points dealt a major blow to his hopes of beating Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton to the 2020 title, but his new contract removes one major distraction

Luke Smith Aug 8, 2020, 3:32 PM

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.

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Author Luke Smith

Luke Smith is Autosport’s Formula 1 reporter. Luke has been working in F1 as a journalist since 2013, initially alongside a History degree at University College London. Luke served as the lead F1 writer at American broadcaster NBC Sports from 2013-17 before spending two years as the F1 Editor for Crash.net. Luke joined Autosport for the 2020 season.

Luke is also a contributor to The New York Times for its F1 special reports, and has previously worked with Al Jazeera and CNBC, as well as hosting FIA press conferences. Outside of F1, Luke is a fan of sports and music, with an ever-growing vinyl collection, and has being bitten by the running bug in recent years. He also runs a surprisingly popular blog reviewing the often-terrible media centre coffee from his F1 travels.