Valtteri Bottas admits he would consider moving to Ferrari or any of Mercedes’ rivals if he was dropped by the team.
The Finn entered 2019 under pressure with only a single guaranteed year on his contract and Esteban Ocon sat in the garage as reserve driver.
Usually, the upcoming German Grand Prix, Mercedes’ home race, would be when an announcement for the following year might be expected, but that isn’t likely to be the case when it comes to Bottas.
“I would like to extend the contract for next season,” GPFans quoted him as telling France’s Canal Plus.
“I think I’ve proved to the team that I deserve to stay at Mercedes, but we will have to wait a few more races.
“Nothing has been signed yet, but I am trying to keep making progress so that everything should be fine.”
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Team boss Toto Wolff’s comments after last weekend’s British Grand Prix will enthuse Bottas, however, as the Austrian gave him a vote of confidence.
“He out-qualified Lewis Hamilton for pole at Silverstone, he leads the race, he defends in a spectacular way, he changes position and loses the race because the Safety Car came out at the wrong moment for him,” he said to Sky Sports.
“He is not going to give up which is good. He has what he needs and at Silverstone racing him it shows how he has stepped up and that is really important for us as a team.
“That for me is his best race performance so far this season.”
If the eventual decision is to drop Bottas though, the Finn would simply look elsewhere.
“If I have to leave Mercedes, then I would like to be at the team that is in second place,” he said.
“At the moment that is Ferrari, yes.”