Valtteri Bottas blasts rumors about his F1 future at Monaco Grand Prix

In the wake of the Canadian Grand Prix, certain corners of the Formula 1 ecosphere engaged in speculation over the future of Valtteri Bottas. With the veteran driver lagging behind Sergio Pérez all weekend in Montreal, that speculation held that Bottas was already at danger of losing his seat, early in Cadillac’s inaugural season on the grid.

Meeting the media on Thursday ahead of this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix, the veteran driver had his first chance to address those rumors, and offered some choice words in response.

“Complete bull****,” was how Bottas framed the speculation.

“It’s not the first time I’ve faced those kind of rumors. It’s a bit of a shame that somebody just makes up complete b******t, but that’s normal in this sport,” stated Bottas.

“I know my situation, the team knows my situation, and they support me 100%, so that’s why from my side it was okay in the end.”

The Cadillac driver then outlined that the rumors do not “affect” him at this point in his career.

“I was actually having my morning coffee, and when I saw the first rumor I kind of laughed about it,” continued Bottas.

“That’s the kind of negative side of this sport sometimes. Sometimes people just want to make rumors to write stuff and make up stuff. I’ve learned it’s part of it, and it doesn’t really affect me anymore.”

The brushback mirrors what Cadillac team principal Graeme Lowdon told SB Nation ahead of the Miami Grand Prix. In an exclusive discussion with SB Nation, the Cadillac boss had praise for both Pérez and Bottas.

“They’ve got fire still,” began Lowdon.

“There’s fire in the belly and they’re enthusiastic, which again, is very important. And they wanna push and they wanna develop, but they don’t wanna push too hard, because again, we’re a very young team and if we get that calculation out of sync, then it can cause more problems than you would want,” continued the Cadillac boss. “So, with Valtteri and Checo, right from the first shakedown, I was just super happy with their feedback, how they’ve encouraged everyone in the team, how they’ve pushed for better performance, but pushed at the right level and I couldn’t talk more highly of them Mark.”

As for the driver himself, Bottas believes the team has an answer to why he struggled at the Canadian Grand Prix.

“We still have later this afternoon another meeting, but I caught up with the team last week about it and we can see issues, both on the power unit side and the car build side,” said Bottas.

“That’s as much as I can give you, but we can see reasons, which is good to see. We need to keep working on the quality of how we build the car, how we fit all the parts, and so on.”

The veteran driver, who has seen many a Monaco Grand Prix, believes there is an “opportunity” for Cadillac this weekend.

“This weekend always is an opportunity for everyone. As an example, remember some years ago, Jules Bianchi got his points for Marussia here. Things like that can happen,” added Bottas.

“For sure, you’ve got to try and qualify well, but then even in the race you never know what happens. We take it as a nice opportunity ahead.”