A Finnish billionaire who backed claims that the Mercedes reserve driver is now blanking him. Antti Aarnio-Wihuri provided funding for Bottas for a large portion of his motorsport career.

The 84-year-old businessman supported Bottas' journey from the junior ranks to the Formula One team at Williams. Aarnio-Wihuri does not believe the driver would have landed a seat at Mercedes in 2017 without his funding.

His company, Wihuri Group, continued to provide funding to Bottas even after he joined Mercedes. The Fin won the seat alongside Lewis Hamilton following Nico Rosberg's surprise retirement. He went on to support Hamilton to several Drivers' Championship triumphs.

However, the support stopped once Bottas' personal income reached £841,000 (€1million).

"We stopped supporting Bottas when his personal income exceeded €1million, and we felt it didn't make sense to support a guy with that level of income," Aarnio-Wihuri explained to Finnish publication .

"It's not a problem for me. But I do wonder about someone whose whole career depended on us - he stopped all contact. After all, we got him to Mercedes, he would never have got there without us."

Aarnio-Wihuri believes that Bottas' career at the top level is over. The 35-year-old has returned to Mercedes as a reserve driver after three unsuccessful years with Sauber. His first Mercedes spell ended in 2021 when the Silver Arrows replaced him with George Russell.

Asked why Bottas has ignored him, Aarnio-Wihuri continued: "I don't know. Probably his character. He hasn't said a word a day when he's come up to me.

"In the world we've seen each other a lot, but we haven't [greeted] each other. My understanding is that his career is over - in practice. And he's getting on in years."

A representative for Bottas is reported to have said: "There are always two sides to the story."

Hamilton once claimed that Bottas was his best team-mate. The duo struck an excellent relationship at Mercedes, with the 40-year-old winning four Championships during their five years together.

"He has been the best team-mate I've had the pleasure of working with," Hamilton said after Bottas' departure from Mercedes in 2021.

"Your speed and resilience has been impressive but where you truly stand out to me is the human being you are. You are greater than you know and I know there's a bright future ahead for you."