Williams’ Valtteri Bottas claims the insistent rumours sending him to Ferrari did not affect him during F1’s traditional summer break.
The highly rated Finn looked like a prime candidate to replace Kimi Raikkonen at Maranello, until the Italian squad confirmed the 2007 world champion alongside Sebastian Vettel before the Belgian Grand Prix.
Although Bottas admitted in late July to being “disturbed” by the permanent speculation and associated questions, the 26-year-old says he was then able to unwind and enjoy his holiday.
“After Hungary it was nice to head into the summer break and I spent nearly three weeks back home in Finland, which was great,” Bottas wrote in his latest Williams blog entry.
“There was no travelling involved, I was just there enjoying my time with my family and friends and my country's lovely nature and then did a bit of training ten days before the start of the Belgian Grand Prix.
Despite enjoying his time away from the paddock, Bottas, whose discussions regarding his future at Williams next year are still ongoing, concedes he was relieved to see the whole situation end with Raikkonen’s new deal.
“Until the week before Spa there was a lot of speculation about my future, a good part of which was not true. It's not fair to put those kind of rumours out there, for either Williams and myself or Kimi and Ferrari, so life became easier once we knew the speculation was over with Kimi staying where he is.
“I have to say the speculation didn't affect me at all during the break because I wasn't reading or listening to anything vaguely connected to Formula One, which was really good. Then I saw the news on Wednesday and that was that – end of story.”
The Italian rumour mill has not stopped for long however, since Toro Rosso rookie Max Verstappen is already tipped as Raikkonen's potential replacement for 2017.
Click here for a lighter look at the Belgian Grand Prix, courtesy of F1i special contributor Eric Silbermann.
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