Bottas inquired about a spot at Red Bull: 'It was a definite no'

Valtteri Bottas made a remarkable statement during the traditional media day before the Qatar Grand Prix. "I feel that some people at Red Bull don't really like me, for whatever reason. I don't know. I don't think it's an option, but that's my feeling," the Finn said, thereby implying exclusively that he could one day join one of the Red Bull teams.

After qualifying - in which Bottas finished behind Zhou in 13th place - the Finnish driver talked to the media, including GPblog, about Red Bull. After his strong performances on Saturday and Sergio Perez's (Red Bull Racing) rather disappointing performance in the sprint race, it would not be a stretch to say that he called Helmut Marko about the second Red Bull seat.

"I don't know" Bottas replied. "I think, I feel like they have lots of drivers on their program and they prefer them. It was some time ago we asked and it was a pretty clear ‘no’ for some reason. I don't know if it's something to do with the past".

Bottas is leaving Sauber after this season, the team that has so far failed to pick up a single point in this 2024 season. Given the speed that suddenly showed up after the upgrades, Bottas has scoring on his mind. "Even one point would be amazing. So that's, at least now there's a clear carrot for that I'm trying to get."

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