F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Wolff divulges financial contribution to Williams to help Bottas move

Nobody is surprised by the notion that Williams was incentivized by Mercedes to release Valtteri Bottas, as Claire Williams made it clear at the outset that any deal had to make financial sense.

In an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport, Mercedes AMG F1 boss divulged the fact that a financial contribution was indeed provided to the Grove-based outfit to ease Bottas' move

"Obviously we couldn't make requests without giving anything in return," Wolff said.

"Claire Williams is a really capable businesswoman – like her father Frank. But we didn't only speak about business.

" For example, Williams needed a driver with experience, and it was necessary to get Massa to return.

"So now we are all satisfied – and obviously we have financially contributed to the return of Felipe."

On the subject of Bottas' one year contract, Wolff said he would like nothing more than to have the Finn at Mercedes for many years, but the onus was clearly on the driver.

"We have great faith and confidence in him that he can stay with us for a long time but now we need to see how the season goes."

GALLERY: F1 drivers' wives and girlfriends

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Michael Delaney

Recent Posts

Marko: ‘No chance at all’ for Red Bull in Las Vegas

Helmut Marko believes that Red Bull and Max Verstappen are unlikely to challenge for victory…

4 hours ago

GM revives bid to join F1 with accelerated talks for 2026 entry

Automotive giant General Motors is reportedly back in the game as a potential entrant in…

6 hours ago

Las Vegas GP: Thursday's action in pictures

The opening day of running at the Las Vegas GP was a smooth but chilly…

7 hours ago

Williams' headaches persist into Vegas practice

Williams is continuing to fight uphill battles this weekend in Las Vegas as a knock-on…

8 hours ago

Ferrari's Sainz 'not satisfied with where we are' in Vegas

It was a solid start to the Las Vegas weekend for Ferrari with Carlos Sainz…

9 hours ago

Norris labels McLaren long-run pace ‘shocking’ in chilly Vegas

Lando Norris didn’t hold back in his assessment of McLaren’s performance on the opening day…

11 hours ago