Bottas not 'expecting miracles' as career-first F1 failure looms

Valtteri Bottas has conceded that a failure to score points this season for the first time in his F1 career would be "tough", whilst he also feels "miracles" cannot be expected going forward.

Bottas is expected to be retained by Stake for 2025 to partner Nico Hulkenberg, but the veteran Finn could be going into his 13th F1 season on the back of a point-less campaign. 

With six rounds to go in this season's championship, Bottas sits 22nd of the 22 drivers who have competed, with a best finish of 13th in Monaco and Canada. 

He has scored points just six times in the 53 races since a seventh-place finish in the 2022 Canadian GP, and last did so with eighth in Qatar last season. 

Bottas has never failed to score at least one point in his career, although he did have to wait until the penultimate round of his 2013 rookie season to do so in the United States. 

Stake is also yet to score a point, with Zhou Guanyu taking a best finish of 11th in Bahrain as it faces the possibility of becoming the first team since Haas in 2021 to score no points across a season, with the looming threat "tough" to take.

"That would be bad," Bottas told media including RacingNews365. "I don't know the statistics, but I don't think it has happened too many times for that many teams.

"For me, I look at how many points I've scored in my career so far, and it would be tough. 

"We are expecting next year to be difficult, and I don't think there are going to be any miracles."

Audi facing 'long shot'

Naturally, considerable focus is being placed on the arrival of Audi in 2026 as the German manufacturing giant enters F1 for the first time following its takeover of Sauber.

Bottas recognises the problems of this season are likely to continue into next year given that time and resources will be prioritised for 2026 once the technical departments can finally get to work on the new regulations on January 1.

Bottas, who is fervently hoping to still be in F1 in 2026, feels Audi can hit the ground running, although he appreciates it will be an uphill battle.

"You can't put a crazy effort into 2025 because of the big changes for '26, and from what I've seen, Audi can be competitive in '26 but it is not going to be easy," remarked Bottas.

"It is tough to jump into a new sport against the other manufacturers who have all been here for a long time, but I think 2026 can be good.

"But trying to win immediately is a long shot. That's the harsh reality. To be scoring points regularly, that's realistic for the new team."