Valtteri Bottas joined Alfa Romeo for the 2022 Formula 1 season, after five years with Mercedes , where he had Lewis Hamilton as a teammate and finished runner-up in the world twice.
The signing by George Russell’s Brackley team caused the Finnish driver to find a place in the Great Circus outside of Mercedes. The young Briton will be at the side of the seven-time world champion and, initially, he will have a very different role from the one played by Bottas.
With the #77 on the other side of the garage, Hamilton achieved four world titles and 50 victories, so it was not strange to see him claim that the Finn was his best partner in Formula 1.
Bottas signed a multi-year contract with Alfa Romeo, something that provides him with great stability after spending the last few years at Mercedes renewing course by course.
The boss of his new team, Frédéric Vasseur , said he was confident the move would be “beneficial” for the Finn, even if he can’t regularly contend for wins or a top spot on the grid.
“When you’re a driver, I can understand perfectly, you feel better fighting for pole position,” he told Motorsport.com . “But on the other hand, he will be the pillar of our project, he will be essential in the development of the team.”
“It probably won’t be like at Mercedes, because he was always a bit in the shadow of Lewis [Hamilton]. He will have to bring his own experience and he will be a key factor in the team’s progress. This will of course give him more responsibility. Vasseur said.
“I think he’s mature enough to commit. It will help Vatteri’s development too, for sure.”
Bottas will be at the service of Alfa Romeo in 2022, and will be partnered by a Guanyu Zhou who will be in his debut season. The Finn will be in charge of guiding the rookie in his debut in Formula 1, and the boss of the Italian-Swiss team thinks he will be an “asset” for them.
“Even if the philosophy of the car is different, the way we have to approach the weekend, how to manage it, he will give us a different vision and help us. Also, I think he will fit perfectly with the mentality of the team, I am convinced that it will be a good step forward”, added the French manager.
