Valtteri Bottas has reportedly secured the last available seat on the 2025 Formula 1 grid, winning the race for a spot at Audi-owned Sauber.
Several candidates had been in the running to become Nico Hulkenberg's teammate at Sauber next year, including rookies Gabriel Bortoleto and the impressive new Williams driver Franco Colapinto.
"We're waiting for Audi or Sauber to come to us and say 'What do you want? What are you interested in?'" Williams boss James Vowles commented during the Singapore race weekend.
However, it seems a deal had already been made with the current Sauber driver, Bottas, 34.
On Thursday, the Finn hinted to the media: "I might know a bit more than other people, but let's just focus on the racing this weekend."
Veteran Swiss journalist Roger Benoit from Blick has been outspoken in his criticism of Sauber for contemplating simply extending Bottas' contract.
He considers the team's apparent final decision to offer Bottas a new one-year deal as "cowardly."
"Do you know that Bottas has signed again for a year?" Benoit quoted an unnamed F1 team boss as asking him in the Singapore paddock on Friday.
Benoit noted that his source in the paddock "can be trusted with such indiscretions."
Bottas, who had been seeking a longer contract, feels he deserves to stay, blaming his low-profile 2024 season on the underperforming neon green car.
"I feel actually I'm driving better than what I did at Mercedes, but obviously it's not that visible," Bottas said in Singapore.
"I feel like, especially in qualifying this year, I haven't felt any signs of being worse. If anything, you keep getting better with experience. You gain more consistency, more confidence. You can solve different issues in a different way. You can adapt to the car the more time you spend in the sport."
Benoit is unsure when Sauber will officially confirm the news, but Bottas said on Thursday: "There's a good time between this race and the next one to continue the talks and then we'll see what happens."
