Valtteri Bottas now understands why Nico Rosberg retired from the sport after he won his first championship in 2016.
Valtteri Bottas spent five years at Mercedes and never came close to winning the championship. He failed to beat his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton and said that the mental strain of losing every weekend took a toll on him.
Bottas thinks that now he understands why Nico Rosberg suddenly retired from F1 after he went up against Hamilton in 2016 and won the championship.
The Finnish driver has now moved on to Alfa Romeo and says that he feels much better than he did at Mercedes. He said, “I remember Lewis and Nico fighting very hard with each other and it even became a bit political.”
“But when I arrived at Mercedes, I wondered why Nico suddenly stopped. But now I can identify with him. I can say from experience that it’s not easy. If you feel like there is a knife in your throat, then the mind doesn’t always work correctly.”
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Valtteri Bottas could not threaten Lewis Hamilton
Despite winning 10 races and 58 podiums in the five year he spent at Mercedes, he was never able to compete with his British teammate.
The 32-year-old driver said that sometimes he would use the sauna to recover after the race. Bottas said, “A sauna is a sacred place for me. Fun things happen and yes, alcohol is involved sometimes, not so much to get rid of the pressure, but to clear your mind and relax for the next race weekend.”
“Sometimes it has worked, sometimes it didn’t.”
The Alfa Romeo driver said that this mental strain had nothing to do with his departure from Mercedes. He said, “It’s not because of that. This is the right time in my career, starting my 10th year in F1.”
“So to have a responsibility and to be able to really make a difference is great. I can say that I have laughed and smiled much more since I made the Alfa Romeo announcement. That’s a fact. [My] well-being has improved to different levels in all aspects.”
