Why Valtteri Bottas shouldn’t rule out a 2025 IndyCar swap just yet

Speaking to media ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Valtteri Bottas admitted that he’s no longer in conversation with teams from other race series, as his plans for the future lie firmly in Formula 1.

That’s understandable; any longtime F1 driver will be inclined to stick it out in the pinnacle of international open-wheel racing. However, Valtteri Bottas shouldn’t rule out non-F1 roles in the future — especially when it comes to IndyCar.

Valtteri Bottas: The potential options in IndyCar

When asked if he was still 99% certain about remaining in F1 in the future, Valtteri Bottas confirmed that he was — and that he is “not anymore” talking to teams in other race series.

“It’s pretty clear what I want,” Bottas said. “Hopefully we’ll get there soon.”

With Mattia Binotto taking over Audi — which is what F1’s current Sauber team will be evolving into in the future — Bottas feels reinvigorated in his F1 talks, with a renewed sense of confidence that Binotto will rely on the Finn’s expertise and experience.

That’s a big shift from Bottas’ previous mindset, where he admitted that IndyCar would be his most likely next step if racing in F1 fails to pan out in the future. But that doesn’t mean Bottas’ options in the American open-wheel series have dried up, or that there’s no place for him in the sport in 2025.

In fact, there are ample opportunities for investment and team ownership in the IndyCar world — opportunities that could set Bottas up quite comfortably for the next step in his racing career.

More options for Valtteri Bottas’ future:

👉 Audi F1 2025 driver line-up: The five best options to partner Nico Hulkenberg

👉 Valtteri Bottas to IndyCar? Eight team seats still open for the 2025 season

Bottas is no stranger to investing in or launching a brand. In 2017, he launched a duathlon to raise money for charity. He co-owns the Lahti Pelicans ice hockey team. He’s launched a coffee roastery and co-founded a gin company.

Co-ownership of an IndyCar team would nestle in well amongst those other engagements.

The time is ripe for investment, too. IndyCar is on the brink of introducing a charter system, which effectively transforms team ownership into a more valuable prospect by adding value to each team beyond the value of its physical assets. Teams will be able to buy and sell charters, or to add investors to increase the value of their charter; those charters are effectively deeds to certain cars, and selling a charter does not have to entail selling the physical assets of the team in kind.

The NASCAR Cup Series introduced a charter system back in 2016, and in the years that have passed, we’ve seen ample investment in teams from the likes of Pitbull, Michael Jordan, and Floyd Mayweather Jr. — as well as investment from brands and companies. The investments add value to a team charter, as well as to the sport of NASCAR as a whole.

With a similar system on the table for IndyCar, Bottas — or any other interested F1 driver — has an opportunity to invest in a team, both to secure his racing future and to secure his finances.

Dale Coyne Racing, for instance, has been clear about its pursuit of long-term investors, but the team hasn’t quite been able to make anything stick. It’s a big ask for a company to invest in a lower-level team.

But for Bottas, it could be perfect. With a rumored annual salary of $10 million at Sauber, the Finnish driver already out-earns the annual operating costs of an IndyCar team like DCR, which means purchasing even a 10% stake in the team is fiscally possible.

IndyCar charters are expected to be worth around $1 million to start, though they’ll appreciate value over time. In NASCAR, charters have doubled in worth since they were debuted, and they are expected to continue appreciating in the future.

Some investment from Bottas could spark a little more life into struggling IndyCar teams like DCR or Juncos Hollinger Racing — but it could also serve as a way for Bottas to secure himself a race set with the series in the future. Even if he remains in F1 for the next few years, his IndyCar investments could see him effectively guaranteeing himself a race seat when he’s ready to move on to the next leg of his career.

At 35 years of age and over a decade in the sport, Bottas is creeping ever closer to the end of his F1 career, but in other race series, there’s still ample potential to compete at the front of the field.

Over in IndyCar, 43-year-old Will Power is still in fine form, competing for the 2024 title against young Alex Palou. Scott Dixon, at 44, is an icon of the sport, and one who can never be counted out when discussing the most successful drivers in American open-wheel racing.

The time is right — but whether or not Bottas chooses to go this route remains to be seen.

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