Bottas keen to learn Mercedes fate

Valtteri Bottas says he would like to hear what Mercedes plans to do with his future, but is confident that his subdued outing at the Hungarian Grand Prix won’t prove costly.

Toto Wolff has said he will use the summer break to choose between Bottas and reserve driver Esteban Ocon for the seat alongside Lewis Hamilton next season. Bottas suffered front wing damage at the start of the last race in Hungary and was limited to eighth place on a day when team-mate Hamilton won, but he hopes Wolff won’t be making a decision based solely on recent results.

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“I’m not really nervous, but for sure it would be nice to hear some news from the team, to know what they want to do, as well,” Bottas said. “What can I do? I was trying (in Hungary), took a bit of a risk, trying on the outside into Turn 1 and then it was a bit messy in turns 2 and 3. Got a bit unlucky with the front wing damage, so it could have been a completely different race.

“I don’t think one race is going to change anything… and I’m sure we’ll get some more news soon."

Bottas admitted it is difficult to perform when there is uncertainty over his future, having only ever been handed one-year contracts at Mercedes since joining in 2017.

“For sure it’s not easy," he said. "That’s the thing in this sport, you try to be on the limit, calculating the risks, just enough. Pushing hard, trying to take the opportunities but trying not to **** up like (Budapest). That’s how it goes.

“For sure when contract-wise you’re on the limit, it never helps. Some people might think some drivers perform better under pressure when things are on the limit, but for me, it doesn’t help.

“I can’t say that going into Turn 1 I was thinking about it – I don’t think so – but I was very hungry for the win, no matter if there are contract talks or not. I wanted to win the race, so I took the risk. It just didn’t go quite as planned, it could have been a lot different, we’re talking about centimeters here and there.”