“He’s a living legend” Valtteri Bottas believes it was an honour to drive alongside an unbeatable ‘Lewis Hamilton’

“He’s a living legend” Valtteri Bottas believes it was an honour to drive alongside an unbeatable ‘Lewis Hamilton’

Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas

Alfa Romeo F1 driver Valtteri Bottas is looking for a career revival after leaving Mercedes after the 2021 F1 season. After being relegated to the role of a ‘Second Driver,’ Bottas seeks to be a team leader in his new venture with the Italian outfit.

He contributed to five constructors’ championship wins for Mercedes since joining them from Williams in the 2017 season. He finished the drivers’ championship runner-up twice, in 2019 and 2020 trailing teammate Lewis Hamilton on both occasions.

Bottas partnered with 7-time World Champion during his 5 seasons at Mercedes. Despite winning 10 Grand Prix he was heavily criticised for not being on par with Lewis. Bottas was also criticised as someone who followed team orders and did not compete with Hamilton for race wins

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Bottas on Lewis Hamilton: “You always meet someone who’s better than you”

Lewis Hamilton on Valtteri Bottas
Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas

When asked about his former teammate, in an interview with The Race late last year, Bottas shared what it was to share space with Lewis. Despite being heated by the Briton, Bottas says Lewis had a positive impact and the pressure of racing alongside him made him better.

“I had a great five years with Lewis as his team-mate, and now actually thinking about it, it was an honour,” Bottas said. “Like, he’s a living legend! And he’s a great guy and a great driver – really fast. He definitely made me work hard to try and beat him.”

The Finn continued “Sometimes I could, but on a season average, I couldn’t. So that’s how it goes. You always meet – eventually – someone who’s better than you and you need to accept it. And I’m fine with it. I’m happy that sometimes when I was at my best that I could beat him. I learned from him about life and about racing, and maybe vice versa as well. So, it was a really good time with him.”

Valtteri Bottas replaced fellow Finn Kimi Raikonnen and will be partnering with Chinese rookie Guanyu Zhou for the 2022 Formula One season. Alfa Romeo unveiled the official livery of C42 on February 27th.

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