MAY 7, 2015

Bottas plays down Ferrari rumours

Valtteri Bottas on Thursday tried to play down rumours he is shaping up as a Ferrari driver of the future.

Valtteri Bottas on Thursday tried to play down rumours he is shaping up as a Ferrari driver of the future.

The Williams driver denied the wilder of the reports, for instance that he has already signed a 'pre-agreement' to join the fabled Italian marque.

"I saw some and heard plenty of stories and it's sometimes quite funny to hear those because in the end you know what's the case and what's not," the Finn told reporters in Barcelona.

"There's a lot of people making up stuff."

Curiously, however, Bottas clarified that he is not sure where he will be driving next year.

"The fact is that at the moment I am just focusing on this season and getting the maximum for us as a team. Then the rest I don't know yet," said the 25-year-old.

"There has been always many kind of rumours so I'm not really thinking about those. That's for my management to think about," Bottas added.

"At the moment I am not thinking about any move."

Earlier, Finnish media sources had said Bottas - a stand-out young driver in F1 - could be retained by Williams for 2016 due to a contract option.

Bottas repeated that he is putting his faith in his management, which involves Didier Coton, double world champion Mika Hakkinen and Mercedes chief Toto Wolff.

"I am sure they have some kind of plan for my career, for years ahead," he said. "If they have something solid for sure they will speak with me but at the moment we haven't spoken about the future."

(GMM)