As speculation continues around his future in Formula 1, honorary Australian driver Valtteri Bottas has flagged his interest in racing down under in the Supercars Championship.
Speaking to The Roar in Austin ahead of the United States Grand Prix this weekend, Bottas guaranteed that at some point he will have a crack at Supercars.
“It’s definitely on the list for sure,” Bottas said. “One day I want to do it, maybe even the whole championship. But when that’s going to be, that’s still all wide open.
“But I can promise one day you’ll see me there.”
Valtteri Bottas at the F1 Grand Prix of Australia. (Photo by Qian Jun/MB Media/Getty Images)
The Finn, who has a cult following down under after embracing the Aussie lifestyle and culture, currently is without a drive for 2025.
His current seat at Kick Sauber is up for grabs, with only German driver Nico Hulkenberg confirmed for the team next year.
Bottas is in a fight to keep his seat against several other drivers including teammate Zhou Guanyu, former Haas driver Mick Schumacher and current Williams driver and rookie of the year candidate Franco Colapinto.
He said that despite the constant noise around his future, his only focus is showing what he is capable of out on the track.
“It’s part of the sport,” Bottas told The Roar.
“Until something is signed and announced, there’s always going to be questions, especially now that there’s only realistically one seat available.
“It’s not a not a new situation for me, so I kind of deal with it on Thursday.
“Then it’s time to focus for the race weekend and then you don’t really think about it. You just do the best you can on track and off track.”
Whether his time in F1 continues beyond 2024, one thing that is guaranteed to continue is his love for Australia.
He starred in a popular commercial in Australia for Uber Carshare earlier this year and together with his Australian partner, Olympian Tiffany Cromwell, runs a gin business called Oath Gin which is partly inspired by her hometown of Stirling in South Australia.
Bottas said that he plans to come back to Australia after the F1 season is over to visit, with Uber and Oath also on the agenda during his time down under.
“When I get there in December, the (Uber Carshare) car will be waiting for me so I’ll be definitely doing some nice road trips,” he said.
“When I left Australia for the last time we did say that we’re going to catch up before I’m coming back and see if we can do any further activations, so we’ll see.
“But I would be up for it. It was really good fun.
“(Oath) is still a youngish company…we’ve been mainly focusing on the distribution and growth in Europe.
“But we should have, hopefully soon, something to announce for Australians.”