According to a report on Sky Sports this evening, Mercedes have offered WilliamsF1 driver Valtteri Bottas 8.5 million pounds to join them and partner Lewis Hamilton in the 2017 Formula One championship season.
The report goes on to say that Williams have rejected the championship winning team's initial offer, but that doesn't really mean anything.
"Besides the personal relationship, where he's a very likeable and intelligent driver, he's also somebody who is very, very fast," Mercedes boss Toto Wolff told Sky before going on to say that the finn is tied to Williams and will be needed there next year to lead rookie driver Lance Stroll.
However, it must be noted that Wolff is also part of Valtteri's management team and could very well be encouraging him to take the deal to drive for the top team in the sport.
Add this to the recent news that Mercedes technical chief, Paddy Lowe, is on his way to WilliamsF1 and that the Grove based squad also use Mercedes engines to power their F1 contenders.
No matter which way you look at it, this deal is looking more and more intertwined and more than likely will end up with Bottas lining up alongside Hamilton in 2017.
