“A beautiful car and a good car to drive” – Valtteri Bottas has chosen the best Grand Prix and car from his incredibly successful five-year stint with Mercedes.
Valtteri Bottas won 10 races, took 20 pole positions, and was on the podium 58 times for Mercedes. All this to help the German giants win five consecutive Constructors’ Championships.
The Finn is now headed to Alfa Romeo, where he will not be experiencing such humungous success. Talking of success and race wins, Bottas considers the 2019 Australian Grand Prix win the best of his Mercedes tenure.
“After the tough end to 2018, 2019 started with a bang.
“A big win in Australia, I think it was about 20 seconds ahead of Lewis at the flag. I think it was my best race to date, I would say.
“It wasn’t easy but it almost felt easy. I was so in control and the whole mindset, from disappointment to coming back up strong, it was a really amazing feeling to experience that. It really gave me a lot of confidence to go ahead.
“That season, in the end I finished second in the Drivers’ Championship, we secured the title in Suzuka as a team, I won in Baku – which was revenge from the previous year – and in Japan and in the USA, so pretty sweet places to win races. All of those wins were amazing.”
About yesterday ✨#VB77 #F1 #DankeMercedes @MercedesAMGF1 @MercedesBenz pic.twitter.com/8QiXPbq6WN
— Valtteri Bottas (@ValtteriBottas) December 18, 2021
Valtteri Bottas’ favourite Mercedes car
Not the fastest racing car ever, the W12, but its predecessor W11 from the 2020 season. The latter, as it stands, is the last car from the German team to win them both the Constructors’ and Drivers’ titles (Lewis Hamilton).
“That car, in particular, for me it was a monster. It was so, so quick. Nothing beats that car in terms of pure performance. A beautiful car and a good car to drive.”
