Valtteri Bottas appears poised to return to Mercedes next year.
Having lost his Audi-owned Sauber seat for 2025, the former 10-time Mercedes race winner has been linked not only with a reserve seat, but also to serve as an advisor to Toto Wolff.
"There is a strong desire to get Bottas back on the team," Mervi Kallio, a reporter for Finnish-language Viaplay, said in Las Vegas.
She admitted she had just spoken to Mercedes team boss Wolff about the popular 34-year-old driver.
"They would really love to have Bottas back in their family," said Kallio. "He would be an absolutely excellent reserve driver."
Also rumoured in Las Vegas is that Bottas could be invited to race in the world endurance championship next year, given that Mercedes-AMG is returning to the category in collaboration with Italian LMGT3 team, Iron Lynx.
And according to Kallio, Wolff joked during their chat that Bottas may be happy to start Mercedes reserve duties as soon as possible. "You never know, if both Mercedes drivers ate spoiled fish, Valtteri would be ready to jump in the car right away," she recalled Wolff as having told her.