Valtteri Bottas made clear Thursday that he is keen to secure a long-term future with Mercedes and is not speaking to any other F1 teams about 2018 and beyond.
The Finn, who joined Mercedes last December as replacement for retired 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg, said he felt no pressure in not having a contract beyond 2017.
āI feel normal, because every single year Iāve been in Formula One I was in the same situation at this time of the year, as I had no idea, at this point, what I was going to do the following year,ā said Bottas, who has had a pole position and a race victory this year in his opening seven Grands Prix with the team.
āSo, for me, itās a normal situation.ā
Media and paddock speculation about Bottasās future began earlier this week when Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff said the driver was in a āuncomfortable situationā and added that there was no hurry to offer him a contract extension.
Bottas knows Wolff well, and vice-versa, as the Austrian was his manager before he joined Mercedes.
āI donāt know when I will know,ā sad Bottas. āThe time line is quite flexible, but, like I said, thereās no rush.ā
āThe discussions will be open soon, because as a driver, at some point, itās always nice to know what youāre going to do next year.ā
āBut itās still early days and for sure Iām keen to have a long-term relationship with Mercedes. Every day I work hard to make the most out of every single situation Iām in.ā
Bottas is third in the driversā championship ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix this weekend.