Valtteri Bottas Cozy in the Midfield, Mocks 5 Championships With Lewis Hamilton & Mercedes: “I Can Do Whatever I Want”

At the start of the 2022 season, Mercedes scraped the 77 racing number from its garage as Valtteri Bottas departed to join the Alfa Romeo. After, a 5-year stint with the German camp, the Finn failed to negotiate a contract for the 2022 season as George Russell stepped up to fill in his shoes.

The thorn in the side of the 32-year-old was the lack of faith put in him by the Brackley outfit, as they offered him only a yearly contract at the end of each season. Taking the 2022 driver market as an example, we can clearly see how in the blink of an eye things change in F1.

Thus, job security is essential for a driver’s confidence as he doesn’t have to live with a constant fear of a small mistake costing him his seat. In an interview with Motorsport.com, Bottas revealed how not focusing on contract negotiations has helped him with “just fully focus on the job”.

He said, “This is actually the first time for me, because even with Williams, it was always one year,”

“It’s the first time I haven’t had to stress and answer the questions, because now for the drivers who don’t know, for sure it’s not going to be nice.”

“This season is probably the most enjoyable so far,”. OK, maybe you don’t know always remember things, but it really feels like I’m enjoying F1 more than ever.”

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Notably, the Italian team offered him a multi-year contract which made it a no-brainer for him to put pen to paper.

Valtteri Bottas reveals life outside Mercedes

When racing for the Silver Arrows, the Finnish racing driver grabbed 10 Grand Prix wins. Moreover, it was the 5 consecutive constructor titles that were the highlight of his career when wearing the Petronas-sponsored racing suit.

Furthermore, in the car of the 8-time constructor champions, he found himself at the top of the grid where his competition was limited to very few racing drivers. However, in 2022, wearing the Italian colors, he finds himself in the mid-field which is much more crowded space than the top of the F1 grid.

He spilled the tea on life outside Mercedes by saying, “When it gets to the racing, it’s a lot of good fun, especially like in the midfield and how different it is strategy-wise in the races. It’s more like one decision can jump you many places. It’s a different game.”

“In the past at Mercedes, normally it used to be only one team that we battled against, so then it’s just focused on those two cars. But now I can have six cars around that we need to be aware of. So that’s nice.”

He concluded by drawing a comparison between the two teams. He described

Alfa Romeo as “quite young” and “like a new race team”, and also, “a bit more relaxed” than Mercedes where he was regularly fighting for wins and championships.

“Of course, when I work, I work hard but then when I’m off, I can do whatever I want, Life with the team and in F1 and outside of it is a really nice balance.” 

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Do you think that Valtteri Bottas has become more expressive when racing for the Swiss outfit? Let us know.