Bottas not confirming Renault switch reports

Aug.26 - Valtteri Bottas has refused to confirm or deny reports he has received an offer to switch to Renault for 2017.

Williams is openly re-thinking its current driver lineup but is thought to be keen to retain the 26-year-old Finn.

So when asked about the Renault rumours, Bottas told the Finnish broadcaster MTV at Spa: "I don't confirm anything.

"Whenever there is speculation, and in the last couple of years I've become used to it, then it is not always good to believe what is written. Some of it may be true but some is not," he said.

The latest speculation coincided with the summer break, and Bottas said the situation did not progress much in that time.

"Everyone was on holiday," he smiled. "I guess in the next couple of weeks, something could happen one way or another, and hopefully during September I will find out what colour I will be wearing."

It is also rumoured that Williams could reunite with Jenson Button next year, and perhaps pair him with Lance Stroll, whose father is a Canadian fashion billionaire.

Bottas, on the other hand, is not heavily sponsored.

"I do not have strong financial support, but I am very grateful to my sponsors for what I do have. It cannot be compared to the money that other drivers apparently have, but the situation is what it is.

"I hope that the team I will be with next season will appreciate my professional skills, not my money," he added.

Bottas' current teammate, Felipe Massa, is also waiting for Williams' news, and he said it is expected "soon".

One rumour is that Massa is eyeing a move to Formula E, but when asked, the Brazilian only told Brazil's UOL: "Whatever happens will be good, no doubt."

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Leopold

Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

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