Valtteri Bottas’ ‘matter of time’ Audi F1 prediction as driver market battle hots up

Pushing to be a part of the Audi F1 project, Valtteri Bottas batted away any negativity and said success is merely a “matter of time”.

One-half of the Audi line-up is already in place for their F1 2026 arrival in the form of Nico Hulkenberg – the German brand to take over Sauber – as current Sauber drivers Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu battle to remain part of the project. However, it is not a project without major bumps in the road.

Valtteri Bottas assures Audi F1 success a ‘matter of time’

Audi showed its previous F1 chief Andreas Seidl and chairman Oliver Hoffmann the door, bringing in ex-Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto, while Red Bull’s long-serving sporting director Jonathan Wheatley will arrive in 2025 to run the Audi F1 project with Binotto.

The duo has a challenge on their hands, with Sauber rock bottom of the F1 2024 Constructors’ Championship and the only team without a point, a tough base for Audi F1 to build from without major improvement.

But Bottas has no concerns, having seen the behind-the-scenes work taking place, as he fights to earn a place in the Audi F1 story, as the likes of Liam Lawson, Mick Schumacher, Theo Pourchaire and Gabriel Bortoleto continue to be linked with an F1 2025 seat.

“In the last few months I’ve had to keep my eyes and ears open, what’s happening, and trying to read the driver market, because there’s been no guarantees of me staying here,” Bottas began when speaking to Motorsport Week.

“But now, there’s a clear direction, a clear priority, and still I think in the long term it could be really interesting, and there could be some success in sight if I can get into the project.

“I feel like that’s what I need at this stage of my career, I need a clear project into which to focus, and that’s obviously at the moment easier, and for Audi.

“Changes is one part of it, but a big part of it is what I’ve learned in terms of the investments they’ve done, of the facilities that they have, the people that they have, the people they are about to get, [it] just gives me confidence that they will be successful.

“They’ve got a pretty impressive setup at the moment, plans for the future, and it’s just a matter of time.

“It’s never going to be an easy road, joining F1, but they’ve got the resources.”

A closer look at how the F1 2025 and F1 2026 grids are shaping up

👉 F1 2025 driver line-up: Who is already confirmed for the 2025 grid?

👉 F1 2026 driver line-up: Lewis Hamilton and 12 other drivers already confirmed for 2026

But as Sauber continue to put the building blocks in place for Audi F1, Binotto has made it clear that the team’s current level is not acceptable.

“We cannot afford it,” was Binotto’s blunt assessment as per Motorsport.com . “I think this is the team that has to become, in the future, a winning team. And the only way to do that is starting to move up, progressing. We need to train our muscles for the future.

“So, yes, I think we need certainly to improve. That’s important for ourselves, that’s important for the team. It’s important for the brand. It’s important for our partners. And we cannot somehow accept the current position.

“We cannot hide behind the fact that we have been last and second last in the Zandvoort race, and in qualifying [at Monza] the same positions some distance to the cars ahead. So, we need to put effort in improving.

“We need to balance all the priorities and our efforts from the short to the medium and the long term. But I don’t think certainly that our position today is a comfortable one for us at all. It’s very painful.

“As I said, we need to train our muscles, and we need to improve because the solid foundations do not come in one day. It’s a team that needs to do continuous progress every single day, step by step. So, starting from as soon as possible I would say.”

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