“It was not a very relaxed atmosphere,” Valtteri Bottas sheds light over ‘tense’ time at Mercedes
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Valtteri Bottas
Valtteri Bottas has talked about the time that he spent at the Brackley-based Mercedes team and indicated that the atmosphere within the team during his time was not a relaxed one.
Moreover, Valtteri Bottas moved to Alfa Romeo for the 2022 season and believes that it was the right move for him as he is much more appreciated at Alfa Romeo than he ever was at Mercedes.
Nico Rosberg decided to call it quits after winning the Formula One title in 2016 and that led to an opportunity for Bottas to secure his future with the Mercedes.
At that time, Bottas was contracted to Williams but was allowed to fill the void left by the departure of Nico Rosberg. In his first year with the team, Finn was able to win three races, however, things did not work out well for him in the following season.
In 2018, the 32-year-old was not able to register even a single victory, and from then onward he was pushed into the role of the second driver on the team, which Bottas did not like very much.
Valtteri Bottas’s take on the environment within the Mercedes team
Valtteri spent five years with the Mercedes and came to learn everything that there was to learn about the team. While discussing his time with the Silver Arrows, Bottas said, “It was not easy, for sure.”
He has also shed light on what he wanted to do when he first moved to Mercedes, “I wanted to win everything immediately. It was really hard to accept when that didn’t happen in the first couple of years. Also then accepting to be in a support role, was something I couldn’t quite get my head around.”
Moreover, while stressing over the internal environment, Bottas said, “It was not a very relaxed atmosphere if I’m honest”. Everything was therefore about performing and having fun was not a priority. “That’s quite different from what I feel now. Now I enjoy F1 a lot,” said Bottas, who despite everything speaks of a “great experience with some race wins, poles, and five constructors titles.”
While Valtteri has admitted that the work environment within Silver Arrows was not a fun one, he has indicated that he is grateful for the five years that he spent with them, despite the setbacks, he had the opportunity of enjoying a lot of success with the team.
Valtteri Bottas played a crucial role between 2017-2021 to make sure Mercedes won the Constructors title five consecutive times with him on the team.
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Rishabh Negi
(3244 Articles Published)