“It is an environment with less pressure”– Valtteri Bottas calls $1 Billion Mercedes a ‘company’ while Alfa Romeo more of racing team in his eyes

Tanish Chachra | 21/09/2022
"It is an environment with less pressure"– Valtteri Bottas calls $1 Billion Mercedes a 'company' while Alfa Romeo more of racing team in his eyes

Valtteri Bottas calls Mercedes a company when it comes to function in F1, while he perceives Alfa Romeo as more of a racing team.

After serving Mercedes for five years, Valtteri Bottas and the Brackley-based team decided to part ways. In 2022, the Finn race driver joined Alfa Romeo, and after a long time, he is playing the main driver role in his team.

Apart from that, Bottas has also mentioned several other changes he has observed. He remarks that working at Alfa Romeo is more relaxing, and unlike them, Mercedes feels more like a ‘company’.

“It is an environment with less pressure, the context in which I am now is less ‘company’ and more racing team, but everyone’s motivation is the same,” said Bottas to Motorsport.com.

“It was very nice to start the season right away by scoring some points in Bahrain, I think that weekend gave an extra boost, the team understood that there would be other races where we would be able to finish in the top 10.”

Bottas was replaced by George Russell, who is now in his first season with Mercedes. The Briton is doing well in his first year and is expected to take the baton from Lewis Hamilton in a couple of years.

Also read: 7-time world champion Lewis Hamilton has part of Silverstone track named after him

Valtteri Bottas misses the feeling of winning a race

Bottas is now in a team which hardly ever thinks about winning a race. A top 10 finish feels no less than a victory, a total contrast to Mercedes’ ideology.

Speaking about it to Crash.net, Bottas admits that he certainly misses the feeling of going into a Grand Prix with a chance of winning a race. With his time in Mercedes over and other top teams settled with their drivers, it doesn’t seem like Bottas will ever get a time like that.

But with Audi partnering with Sauber, and coming in as new manufacturers, if Bottas sticks till the arrival of the new engine regulations, he might have a chance to get a shot above if the German company does a wonderful job with Sauber.

Also read: When Alex Albon nearly gave up on his F1 dream after injuring himself during a bike ride with George Russell

Post Edited By: Tanish Chachra
Alfa Romeo Mercedes Valtteri Bottas

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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