Valtteri Bottas won the Constructors’ Championship five times in a row with Mercedes, but he never managed to win the Drivers’ Championship.
Valtteri Bottas has expressed “mixed feelings” about leaving Mercedes for Alfa Romeo after failing to meet his primary goal with the team.
Bottas joined Mercedes from Williams for the 2017 season, following Nico Rosberg’s unexpected retirement from Formula One, and has since helped Mercedes win five consecutive Constructors’ Championships alongside Lewis Hamilton.
However, he was never able to mount a sustained assault for the Drivers’ title, with Hamilton storming to four consecutive victories before Red Bull driver Max Verstappen secured overall victory in 2021.
Bottas, who finished second in the championship in 2019 and 2020, yet scored 10 victories and 20 pole positions during his stint with the Silver Arrows.
Bottas’ mixed feelings
Bottas spoke to accredited media, including RacingNews365.com, on his five years at Mercedes: “Mixed feelings! Obviously, when I joined the team in 2017, the only thing in my mind was to win the Driver’s championship, and that didn’t happen.
“But I need to look at the positives and I’ve grown so much as a driver and as a human being. I’ve learned so much with the team and we’ve actually achieved pretty cool things together.
“There’s many, many, many positives that I will definitely take onboard.”
“I think in this sport you’re never fully satisfied, you know. But in five years, like I said, I’ve definitely achieved something – I’m sure that will help me in the future”, Bottas said.
Bottas will pair up with Guanyu Zhou, a Formula 2 race winner, at Alfa Romeo in 2022, with team boss Frederic Vasseur expecting the Finn to lead the team to victory.
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