Mercedes sponsor Wihuri is confident Valtteri Bottas will retain his seat with the Silver Arrows squad next season, but a move to Ferrari could also be in the cards for the Finn.
Bottas' defense of his coveted seat got off to a rocky start in Australia where a crash in qualifying put the driver on the back foot at the outset.
The 28-year-old is backing himself to bounce back in Bahrain next week, a message echoed by personal sponsor and long-time supporter Antti Aarnio-Wihuri.
"I think it's likely that Valtteri will continue with Mercedes, but in Formula 1 anything can happen," said Aarnio-Wirhuri, whose packaging company Wihuri followed the Finn when he moved from Williams to Mercedes in 2017.
Cooling miscalculation hindered Bottas' run
The German team will likely keep its options open for the next few months, as it closely follows Bottas' performance.
But Mercedes will also keep a watchful eye on Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo and Force India protégé Esteban Ocon, two men seen as potential contenders for a plum drive with the team in 2019.
Aarnio-Wihuri, one of Finland's wealthiest men, speculated that a move to Ferrari cannot therefore be ruled out for Bottas.
"I think Raikkonen's time is coming to an end," he said. "Last year we saw that his driving started to become inconsistent. Probably his interest is starting to fade."
Ferrari has expressed interest in Bottas in the past, so Aarnio-Wihuri speculates: "Valtteri's move to Ferrari can still be quite possible.
"In the meantime, every F1 driver dreams of driving for Ferrari at some point."
Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
Helmut Marko believes that Red Bull and Max Verstappen are unlikely to challenge for victory…
Automotive giant General Motors is reportedly back in the game as a potential entrant in…
The opening day of running at the Las Vegas GP was a smooth but chilly…
Williams is continuing to fight uphill battles this weekend in Las Vegas as a knock-on…
It was a solid start to the Las Vegas weekend for Ferrari with Carlos Sainz…
Lando Norris didn’t hold back in his assessment of McLaren’s performance on the opening day…