Bottas: With Binotto's arrival I was promised a renewal [he lied]

Among them is Valtteri Bottas, who has now returned to Mercedes as a reserve driver, but clung to the hope of being able to renew with Sauber and be a full-fledged part of the Audi project until the very end.

Last season, the German manufacturer decided to restructure the team's management team, entrusting the leadership to Mattia Binotto, former Ferrari team principal, and sending home, among others, former McLaren boss Andreas Seidl.

With the arrival of the former Ferrari boss, the Finnish driver was convinced he would obtain a contract renewal, so much so that he did not actively seek other opportunities. After weeks of continuous postponements, the extension never arrived and the young Gabriel Bortoleto was chosen in his place.

Bottas revealed to MotoriOnline: “When my contract expired, I started to ask myself a lot of questions about the future, even though I was always confident that I could continue racing in Formula 1 in 2025 because everything seemed to be going in that direction.

"Some of the Audi top brass really wanted me, while others were oriented towards a change, focusing on a younger driver. It was a difficult situation to manage, especially because, since Mattia Binotto’s arrival, it had been made clear to me that I would be one of the pillars of the project.

“This made it difficult for me to dedicate myself 100% to other opportunities since I had been promised a well-defined role within the team. I was simply waiting for an 'Okay, when are we signing?' because everything had already been discussed and agreed upon.

"But when the signing started to suffer continuous postponements, I understood that something was changing and that it probably would not be in my favour," explained Bottas.

The 35-year-old Finn - in his Mercedes reserve role - will back up rookie Kimi Antonelli and George Russell, the latter being the driver who replaced him at the eight-time F1 constructors' champions back in 2022.