Valtteri Bottas signs new one-year Mercedes deal for 2021

Valtteri Bottas will remain with Mercedes next season after the team confirmed the Finn has signed a new one-year deal for 2021.

The 30-year-old has been with Mercedes since 2017, replacing Nico Rosberg and has signed one-year deals to stay on alongside Lewis Hamilton at the team since.

His new deal will take him up to the end of the 2021 F1 season when new technical regulations will be introduced having been postponed to save costs during the current global pandemic.

Bottas had his best F1 season to date last year, finishing second in the drivers’ championship albeit some distance behind title winner Hamilton. He took four wins on the way to helping Mercedes take its sixth straight constructors’ championship.

“I’m very happy to stay with Mercedes in 2021 and build on the success we’ve enjoyed together already,” he said.

“Thank you to everyone in the team and the wider Mercedes family for their continued support and their trust in me. I’m very proud to represent this great team and the three-pointed star on our journey together again next year.

“The past few years have been all about continuous improvement, working on every aspect of my performance. I’m confident that today I’m the strongest I’ve ever been, but I can always raise the bar. Mercedes embraces the same philosophy: They always want to get better and are always hungry for more.

“Ever since I fell in love with F1 as a kid it’s been my dream to one day become world champion. I’m in the fight for the title this year and staying with Mercedes puts me in the best possible position to compete for it next season as well.

“We’re in the middle of a shortened season and I want to give my absolute best in every single race we’ll go to this year. The puncture last weekend was a bit of a blow in my fight with Lewis, but I’m determined to come back strong this weekend on the same track.”

He began the delayed 2020 season in style with a strong performance and race victory in the Austrian Grand Prix but has since slipped from the lead of this year’s championship and is now 30 points off of his team-mate following last weekend’s tyre failure.

Since joining Mercedes in 2017, Bottas has taken eight race wins, 12 pole positions and 48 podium finishes.

“We are very excited that Valtteri will stay with the team for at least one more season,” Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said.

“We’re seeing the strongest Valtteri we’ve ever seen this year – in terms of his on-track performance, but also physically and mentally. He is second in the championship, finished the last season in P2 and plays a very important part in our overall team performance.

“I’m confident that we have the strongest driver pairing in F1 today and signing Valtteri is an important first step in retaining this strength for the future. Valtteri is a hard-working, straightforward guy who has a good relationship with the entire team – including his team-mate, which is not a given when both drivers are fighting for the championship.

“I’m looking forward to seeing him continue to raise the bar together with us this year and in 2021.”