Valtteri Bottas: I’m not just a driver at Alfa Romeo

Valtteri Bottas is very comfortable in Alfa Romeo and the team believes they are lucky to have a Finnish driver. He is in Formula 1 for his tenth season, having had more than 180 grands prix, winning ten of them, but became the leader of the Valtteri team the first time.

At Mercedes he was always in the shadow of Lewis Hamilton and it became clear to him that something had to change. The circumstances turned out well: Bottas signed a contract with Alfa Romeo, which is led by Frederic Vasseur – in his team Valtteri played in the youth series.

After three races in 2022, the Finn is ready to admit that there have been some serious positive changes in his professional life and he has become a bit happier person himself.

“I really feel like an important part of the team. And it’s really nice that I can really influence everything that happens,” Bottas is quoted as saying by the British edition of The Race. – When I ask something, it is immediately done, and everyone listens to me carefully. I know how to motivate people.

Now the team has a good fighting spirit, everyone works and takes effort. That was what I was trying to achieve, but of course you could see that the results of the first race, where we earned points, cheered people up.

I am very happy with the way our team is progressing and my role. I feel that I am not only a driver, but also an important member of the team.

In the past it was always difficult for me to play a more important role because you can say Lewis dominated Mercedes. It was pretty clear that I couldn’t claim the same role there that I was entrusted with at Alfa Romeo.

The difference is that I can influence everything here, every little thing. And everything happens naturally, because my partner is a newcomer to Formula 1 and relies a lot on my information, on my feedback and focuses on that.

I want us to be really strong teammates, so I’m helping him because I want us both to earn points. Of course I hoped that the team would take a step forward compared to previous seasons, but in fact it has taken a very important step. The fact that I can fight with Mercedes, for example, is beyond my expectations!

Once we can fix the reliability issues, which is to be hoped, we will be able to fight for the points in every race – I see no reason to prevent this.

If we talk about the approach to the car settings, then in my opinion everything is fine with this. It’s nice that I can customize it the way I want. Overall I’m happy with how it works and how it behaves on the track. Flying gives me pleasure – also because such settings suit my driving style.

Perhaps the most vivid emotions I experienced after qualifying in Bahrain, when everyone was surprised to see what result we showed. It was cool. But even before I got behind the wheel of an Alfa Romeo for the first time, I was happy because I felt I had made the right choice. And now I’m a little more satisfied with life in general.