Valtteri Bottas thriving at Alfa Romeo
Valtteri Bottas has been a Alfa Romeo driver since last season and he is thriving, far from the stressful atmosphere he experienced at Mercedes.
After years spent in the shadow of Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, Valtteri Bottas has now moved to Alfa Romeo since last season, a team where he feels much better.
(I) “I think that with experience and in this sport, you learn so many things about yourself and how to manage things every year. I think what makes a big difference for me is that I am now involved in a long-term project. Having one less stress factor, like your contract for example, can really make a difference. And it’s always about the atmosphere and the people you work with. I think the main reason is probably that I am getting older and have learned not to take certain things too seriously,” he said in an interview for GPblog.
We feel like a racing team. Everyone has the passion to be better, to run. And yes, sometimes change can be refreshing. It is certainly a less stressful environment than the one I was used to a few years ago.
The driver arrived as a rookie at Williams before moving to the Silver Arrows. This is the first time the driver is the leader of his team, a new role that he appreciates.
The role you play in the team certainly makes a difference. It’s completely natural because my teammate was a beginner last year. And I came from a team that used to win back then. But I really like this different role, being a bit more involved in things, having more information that goes through me as well. And I’m already involved in some aspects of next year’s car. So it’s something I appreciate.
Running for Alfa Romeo was an opportunity to discover mid-field racing, which is much more competitive than one can imagine.
But it is certain that racing in the middle of the pack is different from racing at the front of the pack. And sometimes, it is even more difficult. And you have to be more dynamic with the strategy. At the front, you normally fight for one, two, or three cars at most. But in the middle of the pack, there can be seven or ten cars that you have to watch out for. So it’s a very different game and the race is really tough.
For the launch of the 2023 season, the Finnish driver had an encouraging first race in Bahrain where he finished 8th and thus scored four points.
