Ten wins, 57 podiums and 20 pole positions. This is Valtteri’s booty Bottas in his 99 Grands Prix at the wheel of Mercedes, and in Jeddah he hopes to celebrate the triple figure in the best possible way before leaving the team and migrating to Alfa Romeo. The Finnish driver landed in Brackley at the beginning of 2017, inheriting the very heavy legacy of Nico Rosberg who only a couple of months earlier had managed to beat Lewis Hamilton by triumphing in the World Championship.
The very British champion was the only obstacle between Bottas and the world title, an objective declared from the beginning of this experience and only vaguely glimpsed with the double second place in the two-year period 2019-2020. Talking with The Gazzetta dello Sport on the sidelines of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, ‘Woodman ‘ he was very sincere and straightforward in that sense: “Winning the championship was my goal when I signed with Mercedes, but Lewis’ performance and consistency was too much for me. I found perhaps the best rider in the world on my way, but I’m calm because I know I’ve given everything. Now, however, I want to leave a good memory: finish with the conquest of the Constructors ‘title and give Hamilton a hand for that Drivers’ title, perhaps with the hope of winning some more GPs because in F1 no one knows what can happen. I’m super charged and motivated ”.
To give even more value to these five years in Mercedes is the relationship with Hamilton, helping to create an even more cohesive and so far unbeatable team if not on very few occasions. In this season finale, however, the task will be really difficult: “Lewis is a delightful person. When he works he is super concentrated and will still be able to win for a few years: I don’t see any stretch marks in his performance. Verstappen, by age and experience, is already a complete rider and in recent times he has also become more consistent, he makes fewer mistakes and accidents. But it obviously remains beatable. Eg, qualification is one of my strengths and it’s my biggest chance to stand in front of him. In the race, Mercedes and Red Bull are the same, so we can beat him if I manage to have good qualifying and start well. The goal is always the same: to score a double. Our team knows how to win, let’s say we have more than a 50 percent chance of winning“.
“There are many good moments in recent years with Mercedes: all the victories, especially the first. Then the constructors’ championship – continued Bottas – Here I learned to win, to conquer the poles. I will bring with me a working methodology, the winning mentality. We are talking about a team that has proved almost unbeatable with Lewis, but I was no longer interested in a single year on the contract. From this point of view, I made life easier for Wolff. Right now I need guarantees, to have a clear vision of the future. Toto’s explanation was logical: Mercedes has invested a lot in George Russell and the change of the rules in 2022 meant that it was the right time to promote it, moreover, it has now accumulated good experience. And after five years in a top team I was ready for another adventure ”.
“I have not looked for alternatives to Formula 1, I wanted to continue because I still enjoy running here. Alfa Romeo is a historic brand. For example, it was nice to receive in Mexico, after the pole, the replica of Fangio’s helmet that won the title with Alfa in 1951. I would like to test the production cars, help the brand in development, but we don’t have any. still spoken “ concluded the Finnish.
#Bottas #Hamilton #strong #FormulaPassionit