Bottas: It's motivating to be part of Audi era

Bottas joined Alfa Romeo for the 2022 Formula 1 season, after making way for George Russell at Mercedes, and the Finnish driver has a two-year contract with the team with an option for one more in 2024.

The Hinwil-based squad is going through many changes at the moment as they gear up to welcome Audi into their fold, the German Automaker entering F1 in 2026 with their own power unit and buying into Sauber to create their works team.

Andreas Seidl was hired from the McLaren as CEO to lead the outfit into the new era, with James Key also joining after being fired from Woking.

Also worth noting, is that Alfa Romeo's relationship with Sauber will be terminated at the end of the 2023 F1 season, which was announced on the back of Audi/Sauber deal.

Bottas was quizzed about his future plans with the team, and whether he has any intentions to remain with them into the Audi era, he said, quoted by Motorsport.com: "The more I think about it, yes. For me, it's an interesting era for the team.

"When you are focused on the here and now, you don’t want to sometimes think too far ahead – but then if I really think about it, and the long term plan, then it would make sense.

“And for me it would be really motivating to be part of it. Let's see, it is still a while away. I'm sure eventually we will have some discussions, but not yet," the Finn maintained.

Alfa Romeo are enduring a tough season in 2023, and are currently ninth in the 2023 F1 Constructors' Standings, only bettering AlphaTauri, but Bottas insists there is a lot of effort within the team to improve as they are not sitting around just passing the time until Audi arrives.

He said: "Looking from the outside, it could look that way, that people are just waiting for Audi to come and so on. But it is not the case.

"Everyone is flat out, everyone is pushing," he insisted. "So we're not standing still. It is just that the field is now so competitive and, if you don't start the season quite there, then it's not easy to come back up.

"So we're pushing, we're not standing still," the ten-time grand prix winner concluded.

Bottas shares the Alfa Romeo garage with Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu, the latter being quietly impressive since his debut in F1 back in 2022, and there have been reports that Ferrari's Carlos Sainz may have signed a pre-contract to join Audi in 2026.

With the exposure Zhou brings for F1 in the all-important Chinese market, and the Sainz reports, will Bottas have a place within the Audi F1 project?