Valtteri Bottas Linked to Williams F1 Return for 2025 Season

Valtteri Bottas could make a return to the Williams Formula 1 team for the 2025 season. These reports, made by Australia’s Speedcafe and Finland’s VSabladet, have been verified by PlanetF1.com. Valtteri Bottas began his Formula 1 career with Williams and spent the first four years of his career there before moving to Mercedes in 2017. He was recently spotted in the Williams motorhome at Imola, further fueling speculation about his potential return.

Bottas himself commented on the rumors over the weekend, but the team stated that they were not paying attention to driver market “rumours.” The team has not yet confirmed the second seat alongside Alex Albon for the 2025 season.

Sebastian Vettel’s View on a Potential F1 Return

Sebastian Vettel, after driving Ayrton Senna’s 1993 McLaren MP4/8 at Imola, expressed his emotions and held the flags of Brazil and Austria in honor of Senna and Roland Ratzenberger, who tragically died at the same circuit 30 years ago. When asked about his hopes of returning to the grid in 2025, Vettel said he was “content” with his current life but admitted that the thrill of that moment in front of a packed crowd gave him the urge to be back in a competitive car.

Toto Wolff Responds to Christian Horner’s Claim

Christian Horner, the team principal of Red Bull Racing, claimed that Red Bull had taken up to 220 staff members from Mercedes as Red Bull Powertrains took flight. In response, Toto Wolff, the team principal of Mercedes, stated that the number was much lower and that there are natural fluctuations between teams when it comes to staff movement. He mentioned that there were 19 engineers involved in the move and emphasized that such fluctuations are completely normal in the sport.

Oscar Piastri’s Assessment of McLaren’s Upgraded Car

Oscar Piastri, a Formula 2 driver, pointed out a possible weakness in McLaren’s upgraded MCL38. He explained that while the upgrades have given McLaren more performance, they have also taken away performance in other areas. As a result, he believes that the new car may not be as competitive at high speeds as it was before, although it has gained significantly in lower-speed corners. Piastri’s observation came after he struggled to overtake at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix due to the tight confines of the Imola circuit.

Helmut Marko’s Opinion on Lando Norris’ Radio Message

Helmut Marko, an advisor to Red Bull Racing, expressed his belief that a radio message from Lando Norris’ engineer during the race was not helpful. Marko felt that the interaction between driver and engineer, in which the engineer asked Norris to increase his speed while he was already driving at the absolute limit, was not ideal and may have annoyed Norris. Marko stated that such communication is not helpful when a driver is concentrating in a high-pressure situation.