HOCKENHEIM, Germany — Valtteri Bottas has revealed he completed his new contract negotiations with Mercedes in the space of just two weeks after the team confirmed a one-year plus option deal on Friday.
Teammate Lewis Hamilton also signed a new contract this week but after agreeing the basic deal at the Monaco Grand Prix took nearly two months to mull over details and refine his package with team boss Toto Wolff. Meanwhile, Bottas only entered meaningful discussions at the last round in Silverstone to agree a deal for 2019 with an option for Mercedes to keep him in 2020.
“It was pretty straightforward, because when we spoke with the team already in 2017 and for ’18, we already had a plan for the future,” he said. “Based on what we’ve done before, we seriously spoke about the contract for the first time at Silverstone. It’s not that far away, and now we’re here. So it’s pretty easy.”
Although Bottas’ new deal was not a surprise, he said having his future secure has helped him fully focus on racing ahead of this weekend’s German Grand Prix.
“I felt a small amount of pressure went off my shoulders, even though you don’t want to think about it, but between the races you do,” he said. “I think now it’s a good situation for us as a team, for me, for Lewis, for all the team, we can just focus on the tough battle for the rest of the year knowing all of us is going to stay at least for next year.
“We can work hard for all of our benefits and together as a team, so that’s good.”