Bottas admits F1 future not secure yet
Jul.22 - Valtteri Bottas says he still does not know if he will be staying at Williams in 2017.
The British team is currently keeping its options open, amid links with Jenson Button and also Lance Stroll, a Canadian rookie who is said to have $35 million in backing behind him thanks to his billionaire father.
"There is still no progress," Finn Bottas, who has driven for Grove based Williams since his debut in 2013, told the Finnish broadcaster MTV in Hungary.
"Everything is still open at this point."
During the week, Bottas was quoted as saying he would be happy to stay at Williams, and he now says he would like his future clarified "preferably sooner than later".
"I cannot say a specific date, but it would be nice to know what's going to happen before the August break. But if it stretches out further it would not be a disaster. I'm not stressed about it," he said.
Last year, Bottas was linked to Ferrari but his situation looks different in 2016 amid the form of his teammate Felipe Massa and Williams' struggle to match the top three teams.
"Certainly the market value has not increased this year, that's clear," Bottas told the Finnish newspaper Iltalehti in Hungary.
"In a less competitive car and when you're rarely on the podium, you can be a little invisible," he added.
"I'm not worried at all because the people who really follow these things know what's going on. I'm not worried about my future in formula one but the fact is that at the moment I don't know what I'm doing next season."
Asked if he could be left without a seat at all, he answered: "I hope not but you never know."
Bottas admitted that Williams appears his best option as the team "has often been very good with new rules".
But he also said the team has disappointed in 2016.
"Both myself and the team expected a lot more from this year," said Bottas. "For example, Force India has come really close to us and in some races have even been ahead.
"At the moment it doesn't seem like there are a huge amount of options and I think it would be great to achieve much more with Williams than we have achieved so far.
"Yes, I would like to continue with Williams," the 26-year-old is quoted by Ilta Sanomat newspaper, who asked him about rumours Renault might be an option.
"It's a little too early to go into that sort of speculation," said Bottas. "For sure next year will show how Renault is developing.
"This year has been really difficult for them."
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