Valtteri Bottas talks 'moving in the right direction'

Valtteri Bottas has reiterated that there is “no panic” despite the driver not yet having a deal with Mercedes for next season.

Bottas like Hamilton is out of contract at the end of this season.

But while the Brit’s extension is, at least according to Toto Wolff a no-brainer, when it comes to Bottas there is always someone else knocking on the door.

The Finn’s main rival for the second Mercedes seat, George Russell, exited the race when Williams announced that he would continue with Grove team next season.

That announcement came in the midst of comments from Mercedes that the team is “happy” with its current line up.

“We are very happy with the line-up we have. Valtteri and Lewis perform well, they get on really well with each other, which is important for the dynamic within the team, and the engineers really appreciate their feedback,” said team boss Wolff.

That happiness has yet to translate into a new deal for Bottas.

The Finn, though, insists he’s not worried, he expects he will have a contract signed before too long.

“It’s a different year, of course, we’ve only done three races, so that’s why it doesn’t feel that it’s dragging on or anything,” he said.

“But things are definitely moving in the right direction.

“It was last week or the week before we started discussions, there was no rush really to start them. But hopefully we will get there soon.

“I definitely haven’t signed anything yet, but there’s no panic. I feel there’s good trust on both sides.”

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Bottas joined Mercedes in 2017, replacing Nico Rosberg after the German’s shock retirement.

Bottas has won eighth grands prix as a Mercedes driver and taken 12 pole positions.

He, however, has yet to win a World title, finishing runner-up to Hamilton in 2018 and again in 2019.

Last time out in Hungary, he lost the lead in the Drivers’ Championship to his team-mate and trails the Brit by five points after three races.

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