Bottas: Alonso can be considered a unique driver

Valtteri Bottas considers Fernando Alonso a unique driver, but sees no reason to stop him from being part of Formula 1 until he is forty.

Valtteri turned 34 a few weeks ago, he is 8 years younger than the two-time world champion and is competing in Formula 1 for the 11th year. Once, in 2019 and 2020, he was twice vice world champion when he was a Mercedes driver. Now that he drives for Alfa Romeo, his results are obviously much more modest and the races in which he finished in the top ten can be considered successful.

Curiously, Alonso’s last victory to date came in 2013, when Valtteri made his World Championship debut. There was a period in the Spaniard’s career when he became disillusioned with Formula 1 and spent two years in endurance racing, where he also won the title and the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice. He also tried his hand at the Dakar rally raid, but in 2021 he returned to F1, first competing for Alpine F1, and this year he became an Aston Martin driver and stood on the podium in half of the Grand Prix already held this season.

Fernando Alonso’s professionalism and skill inspires Bottas; the Finn considers him an example to follow.

“Look at Fernando, he is a good example of what a driver can achieve and he is still capable of doing a great job,” Valtteri told Speedcafe. “I also have many years ahead of me.” Of course, in our sport you always have to confirm your capabilities and show results.

You have to do your best every weekend, try to achieve good results and also work hard with the team off the track. All this still motivates me.

When we talk about Alonso, he can probably be called a unique driver. It has not happened very often in our sport that someone his age has remained so competitive. All people are different, all drivers are different from each other, but I repeat: Alonso is probably a special case. But if you look at him, it’s still very motivating, so he can definitely be seen as a role model.

But I also feel like I haven’t lost my speed. “If you reach the stage in Formula 1 where you have a lot of experience, that can be a very attractive quality for many teams under certain circumstances.”

Currently, the Swiss team for which Bottas competes is undergoing a transition period: on its basis, an Audi factory team will be created, the debut of which is scheduled for 2026, and the process of gradual transformation has already begun.

“There are certain structural changes taking place,” Bottas confirmed. – Andreas Seidl (who took over as CEO of the Sauber Group) took the time to figure out exactly what the team needed, what the long-term plan should be, and now he is starting to put this plan in place.

Of course, the results of these changes will not be visible even next year, but probably in two, three or four years.”

When Valtteri was asked if he had the patience to wait for the fruits of these reforms, he replied: “I can be patient with some things. I will happily wait until 2026 before I can compete for the podium again.”