Bottas annoyed over ‘Ferrari’ rumours

Indeed, as Raikkonen’s immediate future remains decidedly unclear heading into the summer break, the Finn used the example of his frustrating retirement whilst running second in the Hungarian Grand Prix as an example that critics shouldn’t be focusing exclusively on his race results.

Vettel went on to win the race and Raikkonen thinks the result is proof of what Ferrari can do if it gets ahead early.

Finnish racing driver Valtteri Bottas has expressed his disappointment over a speculation of replacing Kimi Raikkonen at Ferrari.

The latest report, by Italy’s Motorionline, suggests that Ferrari may be planning not only to announce a new deal for Raikkonen at Monza, but also a contract extension for technical boss James Allison.

Bottas, speaking at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on behalf of Sure, an official partner of Williams, told Press Association Sport: “Once you’re in the auto you don’t think about any speculation there is”.

A race win may seem an unlikely prospect for Bottas considering that he has managed just one podium finish this season, but he believes that Sebastian Vettel’s win in Hungary last weekend is an indication that the dominant Mercedes outfit are there for the taking.

“Then, everything happened on Friday, so Saturday the first thought was “guys, calm down, we need to do our analysis, put everything together”.

“The season so far has been mixed for us”.

With no race until the Belgian Grand Prix on August 23, Bottas could have some well-deserved downtime – but he believes he will soon be raring to get back into the auto and set about closing the gap to Mercedes and Ferrari. They have a really quick auto but anything can happen in motorsport.