The forgettable farewells of Formula 1’s departing quartet

While much was made of Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes finale and Carlos Sainz’s last race for Ferrari, four likely permanent Formula 1 farewells also took place at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – and sadly for those involved, none of them went particularly to plan.

There was very little fanfare, outside of their respective teams, for Franco Colapinto, Kevin Magnussen or the Sauber pair of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu.

Magnussen is the only one who has firm plans moving forward but, after signing with BMW, they lay outside of F1 – while the remaining trio will have eyes on reserve drives for 2025.

Valtteri Bottas

The Finn, with 10 F1 wins under his belt from his Mercedes days, had held onto dwindling hopes he would be retained by Sauber for 2025 – only to eventually lose out to incoming rookie Gabriel Bortoleto.

What could yet prove to be his final year in Formula 1 ended up being his worst as he failed to score a single point for the first time in his career, let down for the majority of the campaign by his machinery.

That changed in the final three races of the year following a floor upgrade but even then Bottas struggled and, having qualified ninth in Abu Dhabi, endured a tough race.

Having collided with Sergio Perez to aid the Mexican’s early retirement from the race, Bottas earned himself two penalty points and a 10-second penalty which dropped down the pack.

He never really recovered before a late lock-up saw him crash into Magnussen – an incident which ended his grand prix on lap 30 and subsequently led to a five-place grid penalty at his next race, should that ever come to pass.

“It’s a shame, but it’s not the first disappointment. I’m actually relieved that this era of my career is over, and I was really, really looking ahead and going to work hard and trying to make the best plan how to be back on the grid,” Bottas said after the race as he targets a return in 2026, with a Mercedes reserve seat looking like his destination in the meantime.

Franco Colapinto

Franco Colapinto, Williams FW46

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

Having burst onto the scene in a haze of speed and expectation, Colapinto’s star burned brightly before quickly dimming enough to extinguish any hopes of a 2025 seat.

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