Could the 2026 Audi project be too late for Bottas?

It's fair to say that Valtteri Bottas' move away from Mercedesduring its peak can be viewed either as a success or a failure. Onthe one hand the team is struggling to match Red Bull and dealingwith multiple car problems, while the grass is not that muchgreener on the other side. Sauber has failed to regularly scorepoints with its last two cars, with Bottas slipping back from 10thto 15th place in the Drivers' Championship between 2022 and 2023.Most of their failings in 2023 can be traced back to their carconcept and lack of updates that provided meaningful lap timeimprovements, leading to lacklustre results on track and weekendswhere the team was left scratching their heads on car setup. Forhis part, Bottas has been embracing his lighter side - something heperhaps could not do when his hands were tied by the cooperateMercedes image. He recently voiced his desire to stick with Sauberthrough the 2026 season , when the team is going to be taken overby Audi as a works outfit. But is 2026 too little too late for theFinn? Audi has a lot of work to do Audi has a lot of work it needsto do prior to making its F1 debut in 2026, with the current setupdesigned to be a gradual takeover of the Sauber team. Their goal isto be competitive out of the box and fight for wins within threeyears of joining the grid, similar to how Mercedes came in andbought Brawn in 2009 and spent a few years building it up into thetitle-winning juggernaut it is today. Bottas has intimate knowledgeof the Mercedes set-up, so he is therefore the ideal candidatewhile Sauber spends the next three years ramping up its operationin time for the full takeover. The team has not finished in the tophalf of the Constructors' Championship since the 2012 season,largely owing to the numerous setbacks it has faced in a bid tostay afloat. The latest 'pre-Audi' chapter sees them ditching AlfaRomeo in favour of gambling company 'Stake' which is co-owned byhip-hop star Drake. Famous names aside, Sauber needs to producerespectable results on track otherwise Bottas risks being part ofthe 2025 driver market talk. By then many teams will want to lockin their options ahead of the major regulation changes for 2026,with Bottas likely being a candidate for the seat at Audi. Toolittle, too late? The question is whether Audi will see him asvaluable beyond helping the initial phase of their build up, givenhis track record alongside Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes. During theirtime together at the Silver Arrows, Hamilton took 50 Grands Prixwins and four Drivers' Championships while Bottas scored 10victories. To achieve their goals of winning races within threeyears, they will need drivers that know how to do that and stillhave the hunger for championships. Bottas will be 36 by the timethe Audi takeover happens at Sauber - one would have to go all theway back to 1996 when Damon Hill won the title at 36 years-old and26 days to find the last World Champion in that age bracket. Thereis no doubt that Bottas can still race in the pinnacle ofmotorsport at that age, but if he is unable to show that he can getthe most out of an average car in the next couple of years thenwaiting around for a drive at Audi could be a lost cause. What doyou think? Let us know in the comments below.