Valtteri Bottas, after five years of long stint with Mercedes headed out of the Brackley based team this year, reveals what happened in talks.
Mercedes relished the partnership of Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton for five long years. Though, Bottas, in his career, has given no reason to be placed as among the greatest of F1 drivers.
He nevertheless remained a reliable servant to Mercedes. In return, Mercedes didn’t require him to be an exceptional driver. They only expected him to bring in regular decent results that could aid them to win championships.
Mercedes, with this settlement, benefitted massively. Not only did they win five straight constructors’ championships, but they also didn’t have to manage the ego clashes between their drivers, as they did with Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton.
But now, Mercedes realizes that they can no longer extend his contract and need to replace him with George Russell. The Finnish race driver explains his talks with boss Toto Wolff that guaranteed his exit.
“It was honestly like we agreed,” Bottas told the Beyond The Grid podcast. “It was not like he told me. He knew that, at some point, we needed to make decisions.
“And, already, 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 it was a simple question of, can he offer me more than two years, two years or more?”
“He said, no, he can’t at this moment, and then it was quite easy.”
Also read: Alfa Romeo boss expects Valtteri Bottas to reach new heights with the Swiss team
Valtteri Bottas feels its natural for George Russell to be in Mercedes
Russell, who will succeed Bottas at Mercedes, is a graduate of the F1 team’s driver development programme. Now, with his development with Williams in the last three years, Bottas feels it was natural for Russell to reach here.
“Obviously, it was very natural to get George in the car, because he’s been kind of part of the team for a long time,” Bottas explained. “It’s a new generation, and that’s also how the sport is evolving.”
“Mercedes, they’ve had this Young Driver Programme, and George has been in that for a long time. And for them to waste that opportunity, in case he obviously still develops further and becomes more experienced, and even quicker, they didn’t want to miss the opportunity.”
“So for me, it’s all good. For me, I’m really happy.”
Also read: Nico Rosberg talks about faults in Valtteri Bottas that didn’t make his time in Mercedes success
