No love lost as Bottas prepares to leave Sauber

Dec.4 (GMM) It is clear there is no love lost as Valtteri Bottas prepares to race for Audi-owned Sauber for the last time.

Embarrassingly for the 10-time Mercedes race winner, he and the sacked Williams driver Logan Sargeant are the only competitors without a single point in 2024.

That’s because his also-departing teammate Guanyu Zhou, who is linked with test roles at Ferrari or Red Bull for 2025, scored four points with his P8 in Qatar.

As for Bottas, who is widely tipped to be returning to Mercedes to replace Mick Schumacher as reserve driver next year, he posted a telling photo on social media this week.

It shows him heartily laughing, with the caption: “When I got told I’ll score points in 2024.”

The previous day, the 35-year-old wrote a post on X suggesting he had been used by Sauber as a guinea pig in Qatar. “The team pitted me early to learn about the performance of the hard tyre for Zhou’s race.

“It’s been a sh*t year,” he added later in the post, “and his (Zhou’s) P8 is a well deserved result for everyone who has worked so hard this season.

“In any case, one more week to go, I’ll give it my all. And I can’t wait for what’s next.”

Before departing Qatar last Sunday, Bottas also told reporters that car improvements had come too late in the season.

“It’s very late in the season and we’ve been waiting for these improvements for a long, long time,” he said. “So it’s kind of ironic, but it is what it is.

“However, I am happy for Zhou and the team. Everyone deserves at least a couple of points. Nobody wants to be the team that doesn’t get them, so at least that curse has been removed. But I still have zero points, which is not a great feeling.”