Valtteri Bottas' former financial backer, Finnish billionaire Antti Aarnio-Wihuri, has spoken out against the 35-year-old driver, criticising his lack of gratitude after their sponsorship arrangement ended.
Aarnio-Wihuri, the 84-year-old head of the Wihuri Group conglomerate, played a key role in supporting Bottas' early career and provided personal sponsorship during his time at Williams and Mercedes.
However, the Wihuri Group ceased its financial support of Bottas after the 2018 season.
"We stopped supporting Bottas when his personal income exceeded one million euros," Aarnio-Wihuri told Urheilulehti newspaper. "We thought it didn't make sense for us to support a guy whose income was at that level."
What seems to have stung the billionaire the most is Bottas' decision to sever all contact—both professionally and personally—once the sponsorship ended.
"It's not a difficult thing for me," Aarnio-Wihuri said. "But I do wonder about a person whose entire career depended on us and then he just stops all contact.
"We even arranged for him to join Mercedes. He would never have gotten there without us."
When asked why Bottas may have behaved this way, he said: "I can't say. Probably because of his character. He hasn't said a word to me since then. We've seen each other here and there in the world, but not a word."
Aarnio-Wihuri added that Bottas was far more communicative and appreciative when financial support was flowing.
The Finnish driver, currently vacationing in Australia, was unavailable for comment.
However, his representative Ville Ahtiainen remarked: "There are always two sides to a story."
Despite Bottas returning to Mercedes as a reserve driver in 2025 after losing his Sauber race seat at the end of 2024, Aarnio-Wihuri believes Bottas' career in Formula 1 is essentially over.
"My understanding is that his career is over, or practically so," the businessman said. "And he's getting to that age, too."
Reflecting on Bottas' time at Mercedes, where he raced alongside Lewis Hamilton, Aarnio-Wihuri remarked:
"I know the Mercedes team quite well, and Bottas was basically the second driver. But the team still gave him a lot of free rein.
"You could say that he was given the opportunity to succeed. But he was the second driver, which in the results was also quite clear. We even discussed it with (Toto) Wolff. That's why I dare to say now the way it was."
