Valtteri Bottas is set to return to Mercedes as a test and reserve driver in 2025. After joining the Sauber team in 2022, he underwent a significant transformation. The Finn embraced the media attention in Formula 1 and opted for a striking new look. He also released his own nude calendar. Toto Wolff has already hinted that the unconventional Bottas will have fewer freedoms in the future, as Mercedes’ reputation is at stake.
In a conversation with PlanetF1, Toto Wolff discussed Valtteri Bottas’s return to Mercedes. After a lacklustre season with Sauber, the Finn was not offered a new Formula 1 contract. As a result, he was allowed to return to the Silberpfeilen, where he will support George Russell and debutant Andrea Kimi Antonelli. However, Wolff has his doubts about Bottas’s new image.
‘Coach for Kimi’
“We are Mercedes, so that nude calendar is no longer acceptable,” Wolff grinned. “We made that clear pretty quickly. Of course, we want him to remain authentic. If he wants to keep that ugly mullet in his neck, he should definitely do that,” he added with a laugh.
In addition to his work as a test and reserve driver, Bottas will take on another role, Wolff revealed. The Finn is to become a sort of mentor for Andrea Kimi Antonelli. The young Italian, who only got his driving license in January, is about to start his first season in Formula 1. “A significant part of Valtteri Bottas’s role is that he will help Kimi (Antonelli). He will act as a coach; Kimi needs to learn from Valtteri and from George (Russell).” Experts whisper that Bottas might even step in at Mercedes during the season, should Antonelli disappoint.
