Toto Wolff: “Bottas deserved to stay”
Toto Wolff, the director of the Mercedes team, is disappointed by Bottas's departure and even states that his driver deserved a place in the team in 2022. Bottas will be behind the wheel of an Alfa Romeo next year.
After five years of good and loyal service at Mercedes, Valtteri Bottas finally joins Alfa Romeo for next year. An interesting challenge for the Finnish driver whose expectations are all placed in him in the Italian team with the new era of F1 in 2022.
Bottas is going to live a new adventure in another team. Hamilton’s eternal number 2 will surely have regrets, such as not having managed to win a title against his teammate. The Finnish driver has still won nine races and finished as runner-up in the World Championship twice. Toto Wolff, the team principal of Mercedes, paid tribute to Bottas’ contribution to the team. Based on his statements, Wolff seems to regret and even says he is disappointed by his driver’s departure.
« Bottas has done a fantastic job over the past five seasons and has made an essential contribution to our success and growth. He would have deserved to stay in the team, and I am happy that he was able to choose an exciting challenge with Alfa Romeo to continue his career. He will always be part of the Mercedes family. »
Wolff highlights the complementarity of his two drivers. Bottas also allowed Hamilton to win numerous races, in addition to the world titles at Mercedes. He does not regret the work done by the Finn.
With Lewis, he built a benchmark partnership between two teammates in F1, and this has been a valuable asset in our championship battles and has driven us to achieve unprecedented success.
