If Alpine's tentative idea of replacing Franco Colapinto with Valtteri Bottas at some point during the 2025 Formula 1 season goes ahead and then pays off with a results upturn, some in the team may wonder why Bottas hadn't been in the car all along.
After all, they did hold serious talks about a 2025 deal early last summer.
That was when it seemed every F1 team was chasing Carlos Sainz and Bottas was everyone's Sainz fallback, and Alpine's future Mercedes engine deal suddenly made it more appealing to drivers chasing seats.
Both sides eventually went cold on each other. Bottas realised Alpine's priority was its in-house option Jack Doohan and the arrival of Mattia Binotto at Bottas's then-team Sauber made him more optimistic about its prospects - though it eventually dropped him for Gabriel Bortoleto anyway.
Twelve months on, Bottas and Alpine are in different situations and seem to be exactly what each other needs. Even if Bottas has any concerns about Alpine's current form and off-track upheaval, it surely offers a higher immediate performance level than his other main option - newcomer Cadillac - would in the short-term.
A sceptic might wonder whether 35-year-old Bottas would actually be a success at Alpine. On paper he might look past his best, having failed to even score a point for Sauber last year.
But that scoreline does him a huge disservice. He still has plenty to offer as a driver. He's always been quick and has proved himself to be an excellent team player. He's stayed in the game in his Mercedes reserve role, playing an active part in its season, and has even tested a 2023 McLaren, as he's available to the F1 championship leader as a reserve if needed.
Nice to be back with Mercedes power today 👀 pic.twitter.com/ph9m2cAS6S
— Valtteri Bottas (@ValtteriBottas) March 27, 2025
Bottas has shown his commitment and is determined to get another chance in F1, which he considers unfinished business. A return would not just be about topping up his pension. There's no doubt that, once he acclimatised to the Alpine, he'd be capable of scoring points on weekends when the car is up to it.
His three-year stint with Sauber from 2022-24 was stronger than it looked - starting with seven points finishes from his first nine events for the then Alfa Romeo-branded team.
The fact he only scored six times in his remaining 59 Alfa/Sauber appearances was down to the car's form dropping off - not his.
In 2024, he was comprehensively the stronger Sauber driver, with an average adjusted advantage of 0.442 seconds over team-mate Zhou Guanyu.
His lack of points certainly wasn't for a lack of trying - he would have scored points early in the season but for Sauber's pitstop problems, for instance, and was up against not just an off-the-pace car but also an operationally weak team.
Bottas's past record offers tangible upsides for Alpine. He would bring vast knowledge of the Mercedes power unit and that can only be beneficial as the team adapts to working with its new engine partner next year.
His qualifying pace, in particular, will also help keep Pierre Gasly on his toes - after all, Bottas outqualified Lewis Hamilton, then in his pomp, around one third of the time when they were Mercedes team-mates. And while Bottas's race performances haven't always lived up to his one-lap form during his career, he is still a dependable enough racer.
Though Gasly has led Alpine single-handedly and comprehensively outperformed Doohan and Colapinto, his season has not been flawless.
As his Austrian Grand Prix last weekend unravelled, Gasly didn't exactly keep calm and might have got sucked into a misery spiral as his early sixth place became an eventual 13th. He also qualified poorly in Canada, partly hurt by an unfortunately timed Q1 red flag.
There's a sense that as well as the obvious question mark over Colapinto, Alpine's de facto boss Flavio Briatore isn't entirely convinced Gasly is consistently maximising the car.
Would Bottas show Alpine where Gasly is lacking? Would he help raise Gasly's level?
He'd be a safer bet for both purposes than dropping another rookie into this turbulent situation.
