Bottas announcement expected

An announcement on whether or not Valtteri Bottas will be joining Mercedes from Williams could be made this week.

The possible switch has been well known since before Christmas, but the news on a potential deal has been very quiet.

Bottas has reportedly visited the Mercedes HQ.

Mercedes are known to have offered Williams a deal in regards to engines, something that could be worth in-excess of ?10million to the team.

Felipe Massa is reportedly ready to come out of his short lived retirement to return to the team and Paddy Lowe is expected to switch Mercedes for Williams and perhaps serve a shorter gardening leave.

Everything seems in place for Bottas to replace the retiring Nico Rosberg, but everyone is still waiting for confirmation.

But the wait is set to end.

?It has been dragging on and I think everyone wants to know Williams deputy team principal Claire Williams told Sky Sports.

?It is a great opportunity for Valtteri and he has given a lot to Williams. We?ve always said if we can make this happen on terms that are positive for Williams then it is probably the right thing to do.

?No-one needs or wants a driver in your team that really wants to be somewhere else. It is not nice either to stop a driver who has such a great opportunity, particularly at this point of Valtteri?s career, but it has to work for Williams and that is what we?ve been working hard on over the past six weeks.

?We are nearly there, we are at the tail end of it and hopefully we?ll be able to make an announcement this coming week.