Bottas won't settle for one-year Mercedes extension

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10:05, 18 May 2018

bySam Bytheway

Despite not entering contract talks with Mercedes till late summer, Valtteri Bottas says he won't settle for just a one-year extension.

Bottas signed for Mercedes from Williams in 2017 on a one-year deal, but performances last season - including three wins earned the Finn a one-year extension.

"I would like to stay with this team, hopefully for a long time," he said

"That is my target. As long as I keep performing like I've been performing this year so far, naturally it should be OK, all good.

"I always kind of had one-year deals, so I would naturally like to know at least for the next two years what I'm going to do."

Bottas believes his relationship with Lewis Hamilton is a positive in his role at Mercedes, adding:

"It started off well but it's only got better as we got to know each other,

"We have very good respect both ways.

"After Baku, straight after he came to me and said, 'You did a really good race and you deserved to win'.

"We are good teammates. We want to help the team together and work together, but we also want to win. He is a pretty complete driver, I feel like I'm getting more and more complete all the time."

Pos.	Driver	Team	Points
1	George Russell George Russell	MercedesMER	51
2	Kimi Antonelli Kimi Antonelli	MercedesMER	47
3	Charles Leclerc Charles Leclerc	FerrariFER	34
4	Lewis Hamilton Lewis Hamilton	FerrariFER	33
5	Oliver Bearman Oliver Bearman	HaasHAA	17
6	Lando Norris Lando Norris	McLarenMCL	15
7	Pierre Gasly Pierre Gasly	AlpineALP	9
8	Max Verstappen Max Verstappen	Red Bull RacingRBR	8
9	Liam Lawson Liam Lawson	Racing BullsRCB	8
10	Arvid Lindblad Arvid Lindblad	Racing BullsRCB	4
11	Isack Hadjar Isack Hadjar	Red Bull RacingRBR	4
12	Oscar Piastri Oscar Piastri	McLarenMCL	3
13	Carlos Sainz Carlos Sainz	WilliamsWIL	2
14	Gabriel Bortoleto Gabriel Bortoleto	AudiAUD	2
15	Franco Colapinto Franco Colapinto	AlpineALP	1
16	Esteban Ocon Esteban Ocon	HaasHAA	0
17	Nico Hulkenberg Nico Hulkenberg	AudiAUD	0
18	Alexander Albon Alexander Albon	WilliamsWIL	0
19	Valtteri Bottas Valtteri Bottas	CadillacCAD	0
20	Sergio Perez Sergio Perez	CadillacCAD	0
21	Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso	Aston MartinAST	0
22	Lance Stroll Lance Stroll	Aston MartinAST	0

Bottas won't settle for one-year Mercedes extension

bySam Bytheway

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