Valtteri Bottas is now officially a Mercedes-AMG Petronas driver, joining Lewis Hamilton in a bid to defend the team’s Constructor’s title.
The 27-year old Finnish driver, has spent his past four F1 seasons with Williams, making 77 starts and finishing on the podium a total of nine times.
“Sometimes in life, unexpected circumstances provide interesting opportunities. Nico’s decision in December was a big surprise – certainly a challenging situation for the team to handle. But weathering the storm makes you more resilient and we see this as another opportunity for the team to grow,” said Toto Wolff, before adding that Bottas is sure to be a great fit for the team.
The former Williams driver said that he’s very excited and that “it’s definitely another dream come true, to race in another team with such great history – especially in the recent years, which have been so impressive. I’m really proud to become a part of that and grateful to everyone at Mercedes for trusting my skills and giving me this opportunity.”
This new opportunity will involve having to figure out how best to exploit this year’s aerodynamic regulations, which are expected to reset the entire field and give fans some uncertainty regarding the team that will eventually emerge on top.
“We have confidence in Valtteri’s ability and it’s one of the reasons that he is the driver we set our sights on this winter,” continued Wolff. “The next weeks will be busy as we work to build relationships so Valtteri understands the team and the car. But that’s an exciting challenge that will bring us fresh energy and a new dynamic between the drivers. And, of course, we’re working hard to give Lewis and Valtteri the car they need to do the job.”
Aside from Bottas joining Mercedes, today’s major F1 announcements also include Pascal Wehrlein signing with Sauber, Felipe Massa returning to Williams and Nico Rosberg accepting an ambassadorial role with Mercedes.
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