Valtteri Bottas said that he had already decided he was going to leave Mercedes because he was offered only a one-year extension.
Bottas joined the Silver Arrows in 2017 to replace Nico Rosberg who had just announced his retirement from the sport. Since then, he has only been signing one-year contracts with the team. His long term future at the Brackley based team never seemed concrete.
In the latest episode of the ‘Beyond the Grid’ podcast, Bottas revealed that he was not going for another one-year extension. He would only consider renewing if he was offered a two-year deal. That was not to happen and earlier this year it was announced that he would leave Mercedes after the 2021 season.
Current Williams George Russell will be replacing Bottas at Mercedes next season. The 23 year old’s move was made official this September. Bottas says that Toto Wolff and himself never spoke about this decision because they both knew that “it was going to happen”.
Wolff could not offer me a two-year contract, says Valtteri Bottas
“He knew that at some point we need to make decisions,” said the 32-year-old. “I had decided myself that if I can’t get two years or more with Mercedes, I’m definitely going to go for something new.”
“And then it was quite easy. Then it was very natural to get George in the car. Because he has been kind of part of the team for a long time. And it’s a new generation. That’s also how the sport is evolving.”
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“Mercedes have had this young driver programme. And George has been in that for a long time. In case he still develops further and becomes more experienced and even quicker, they didn’t want to miss the opportunity.”
Bottas will leave Mercedes to join Alfa Romeo who signed him on a multi-year deal. He had the chance to go back to former team Williams. But, he wanted to join the Swiss side because he “wanted to cut all ties with Mercedes”.
The Finn race driver is, however, very excited for the future and says he is happy with the decisions he made.
Valtteri Bottas excited about Alfa Romeo future
Alfa Romeo are currently 9th in the Constructors’ standings with just 11 points. They are 12 points behind Williams and with just 4 races to go, it seems unlikely that they’ll catch up to the British team.
The Swiss team however have not focused a lot on the 2021 season in order to develop a better car for next year.
In the podcast, Bottas said, “There is work to do, definitely.” “The good thing with Formula 1 in the future is the budgets between the teams. They’re going to be the same or if there are differences, they’re quite minimal.
“Alfa Romeo has agreed to support the team at least for the next two years. “I see all the ingredients are there for much, much better results than they’re doing now. And I believe this regulation change now that is happening is a great opportunity.
“With the knowledge I have, how early the team switched to development of the new car, etc. What I’ve seen so far, I’m confident if we work hard and together, anything’s possible.”
