Valtteri Bottas dropped by his main sponsor
Following his disappointing results in 2018, Valtteri Bottas is dropped by his main sponsor, Wihuri, which no longer wishes to associate with the Mercedes driver.
The beginning of 2019 is off to a rather poor start for Valtteri Bottas. After a challenging 2018 season in which the Finnish driver did not win any races, this year is once again marked by disappointment for the Mercedes driver.
Indeed, his main sponsor, the Finnish conglomerate Wihuri Group, decided to no longer support the driver due, in particular, to his lack of convincing results: « It’s a little disappointing. It’s not entirely his fault, mechanical problems and team decisions didn’t help, but in the end, it was all quite weak at the end of the year, » specified Antti Aarnio Wihuri, the Finnish billionaire owner of the brand.
Even though Wihuri tries to find mitigating circumstances for Bottas, the group has nevertheless decided not to continue its journey with him: « It’s not easy being Lewis Hamilton’s teammate. But Valtteri was outperformed by other drivers and finished only fifth. This is not a sufficient result. »
After a difficult season both mentally and sportively, Bottas is not approaching 2019 in the best way, especially since Toto Wolff does not hesitate to put pressure on him, particularly by noting that Esteban Ocon, the new Mercedes reserve driver without a seat in 2019, is in the starting blocks for a rapid appointment.
New beard, who dis? @ValtteriBottas looking sharp for the New Year 👌
Hit us with a 🔥 if you think the beard should stay! pic.twitter.com/OE7yQ961yO
— Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) 9 janvier 2019
