Valtteri Bottas has welcomed the apparent interest in his services from IndyCar team owner Chip Ganassi but maintains he is not looking to leave Formula 1 imminently.
Ganassi caused a stir with his reaction to comments from the Finn about his longer-term future in a podcast taped ahead of the recent United States Grand Prix.
Bottas had described IndyCar as a “quite interesting” prospect and affirmed that it is a category he has considered racing in when he does leave F1.
Ganassi responded by simply tweeting, “Give him my cell number!”
Notwithstanding that Chip Ganassi Racing is one of the premier teams in IndyCar, with 14 drivers’ titles (including four in CART) and five Indianapolis 500 victories, Bottas plans on staying in F1 for multiple years longer.
“I heard about this,” said the 33-year-old of the aforementioned tweet.
“It’s cool, it’s really nice to have people replying to it.
“I think some people got excited.
“Like with the Audi thing, let’s just wait for three years,” he added, in reference to confirmation that Audi will partner his current team, Sauber, when new power unit regulations take effect in 2026.
Bottas had said in the podcast interview, “I still definitely have a few more years in F1, no doubt; I still feel like I have things to give for this sport; but eventually… I have thought about [racing in the United States].”
He was essentially making the same comments when queried at the Mexico City Grand Prix about Ganassi’s response.
“I think some people got a bit excited about it, because we had a chat and I like the US and the culture and also the racing there seems cool,” explained the 10-time grand prix winner, who is not quite one season into a multi-year contract with Alfa Romeo Sauber.
“Also, I’ve seen Romain [Grosjean] go there and also Marcus [Ericsson], and they’ve both done really well, which is cool to see.
“But this is what I said; my focus is F1, and I’m not planning to leave for a while but I’m always open in the future for something because I love driving, I love racing, and IndyCar definitely could be one option, but that’s in the future.”
