Daniel Ricciardo chose to take a break from F1 after he lost his McLaren seat at the end of last year. It was risky for the Australian to take a break as he was already 33 (34 now) at the time. Many believed it was a risky move as it brought uncertainty if he would ever return to the grid. However, since the Honey Badger has successfully returned to the grid, it also provides a glimmer of hope to Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas, who opened up on how he is attempting to rejuvenate himself in a recent interview with The Athletic after a difficult spell at Mercedes.
The Finnish driver had earlier revealed in an interview with Helsingin Sanomat about how competing against Lewis Hamilton during his Mercedes days resulted in him suffering from mental health difficulties. The 33-year-old also said that he had an eating disorder even though it was never diagnosed.
“No eating disorder was officially diagnosed, but it was definitely there. It wasn’t very healthy. I wanted to be the best, and I thought I had to do that (seek help),” he explained. However, with Bottas now at Alfa Romeo, he seems to be in a far better place.
Valtteri Bottas keen to follow Daniel Ricciardo’s path, to rejuvenate his career
While speaking in an interview with The Athletic, Valtteri Bottas explained how Daniel Ricciardo has motivated him to keep going after he successfully returned to F1 with AlphaTauri this year. “That’s the beauty of the sport“. he said.
The Finnish driver then explained his point by adding, “You never know what’s around the corner. You never know what happens in the driver market and which teams are competitive. For me, being a part of a manufacturer now is the next goal. That will hopefully give me a chance to get back up there“.
Bottas is perhaps keen to stick with Alfa Romeo until his side becomes Audi’s works team from the 2026 season onwards. Audi had announced in August last year that they were keen to join the sport as a power unit supplier.
Since Audi will only be supplying their power units to Sauber, they will operate as a works team. This is good news for Bottas, who will have a chance to return to the front of the grid if this partnership is successful.
Bottas is keen to use his experience to get back to the front
Valtteri Bottas is currently in his twelfth year in F1 and is one of the most experienced drivers on the grid. Since he is far more experienced than Alfa Romeo teammate Guanyu Zhou, the Finnish driver is more than aware about how important it will be for him to provide his knowledge to help the team move in the right direction.
The 33-year-old then concluded his remarks in the interview with The Athletic by explaining how difficult it is for any driver to be continuously fighting at the back. Bottas is now just hopeful that his efforts will pay off and that things will get better for his side.
As for Daniel Ricciardo, he too will hope to play a similar role at AlphaTauri. The Australian will hope to utilize his 13 years of experience in the sport to help the Italian outfit move from strength to strength considering that the team currently has the slowest car on the current grid.
And if Ricciardo is able to do that, he will hope that he can also bring himself back in contention for the Red Bull seat sometime in the future. While Red Bull has already confirmed that Sergio Perez will continue with them for the 2024 season, the team has not made any decision for 2025 yet.
