Miki Hakkinen isn’t surprised by the rumours linking fellow Finn Valtteri Bottas with a McLaren seat for the 2015 season.
Hakkinen says the Williams driver is hot property alongside Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, with both springing big surprises this season.
Bottas has taken podium finishes in three of the last four races and sits fifth in the championship standings behind the Mercedes pair, Ricciardo and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso.
He is therefore gaining attention and it’s believed one team, McLaren, has already considered making an approach. With a return to Honda power next year, the team is looking for a powerful driver pairing which many in the paddock don’t believe they have in Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen.
Former McLaren driver Hakkinen therefore isn’t surprised to see Bottas’s name being thrown around.
“At the moment the two hot names in F1 are Bottas and Ricciardo,” he wrote in his Hermes column.
“This [speculation] is quite natural,” said the two-time champion who has played a role in Bottas’s career.
“The first thing is that Valtteri is still a young driver who has been in Formula 1 only for a short time. But Valtteri is interesting not only because of his speed.
“He can also motivate others in the team and is able to create an atmosphere that is necessary for success,” he added.
“There is interest,” he confiemed, “and that’s good. What happens in the future remains to be seen.”
