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Valtteri Bottas: Williams clearly best option for 2015 F1 season

Valtteri Bottas has no doubt that staying with the Williams Formula 1 team for the 2015 season is the best option for his career right now

Williams announced on the eve of last Sunday's Italian Grand Prix that it would be retaining Finn Bottas alongside Felipe Massa for next year, before Bottas leapfrogged Ferrari's Fernando Alonso for fourth in the 2014 F1 drivers' championship after finishing fourth at Monza.

The Finn, who first joined the team as a junior in 2010, has scored four podiums for Williams this season and said staying on with the Grove-based squad made the most sense given its current competitiveness.

When asked by AUTOSPORT whether he had been looking elsewhere before signing his new Williams deal, Bottas said: "That's the job of my management and they tend not to speak to me about those things.

"But I doubt there's been much going on because I think Williams was definitely the priority for next year, especially seeing how much we have improved and seeing what the team is now doing in the factory and the races.

"The direction we are going, I really think we can keep this momentum to keep getting better and better.

"I think this is probably the best place to be next year."

OPINION: Don't rule out a silly season bombshell

Bottas said he could not be sure that Williams would eventually provide him with a car capable of challenging for the world championship, but reckons the team will be able to build on the success it has enjoyed this year.

That progress follows a disastrous 2013, in which Williams scored just five points and finished ninth in the constructors' championship.

"The team continues grow stronger and stronger - that's my feeling," he said.

"But at the moment my focus is on the end of this season - every single race trying to get maximum points - and it's nice to know that I'm staying in the team for next year and we can really push for good results.

"But what happens then, that's too early to speculate and for me not to think about at all.

"I need to focus on this moment and then for next year, and then that's the job of my management to think about those things and not me."

BOTTAS AND WILLIAMS IN NUMBERS
Races: 32
Wins: 0 (Best finish: 2nd)
Podiums: 4
Poles: 0 (Best qualifying: 2nd)
Points: 126

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