The Flight Of The Finn: Bottas

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via Mercedes on Twitter

After a commanding win in Turkey, this gives us an opportunity to look back at Valtteri Bottas' incredible achievements over the years he has been a Formula One driver. A powerful team in its incredibly dominant years won't pick just anyone to line up alongside one of the best racing drivers of all time. The Finn truly is a remarkable driver and this race just adds a cherry on top.

Where it all began

Via Sky Sports

A 24 year old Valtteri made his F1 debut with Williams on a high, winning the 2011 GP3 Championship with Lotus. In his first ever season in F1, he got more points than his teammate. In fact, in his Williams career, he has never finished behind his teammate in the championship. His immense determination and consistency brought him nine podiums over his four years at the Grove based team. He even finished 4th in the championship in 2014, the highest of any Williams driver since Juan Pablo Montoya in 2005. He showed his class in Canada in 2013 where he qualified third in a relatively slow car. (his teammate qualified 13th)

The next step

Via F1.com

Naturally, his talent attracted many teams but the best team on the grid recruiting you as the replacement to a world championship is really something. Mercedes signed Valtteri Bottas to race alongside Lewis Hamilton (then a three time world champion). What differentiated him from the rest of the field was not only his sheer pace but his consistency. Throughout his Mercedes career he has won 56 podiums, out of the 95 races he took part in. He's finished on the podium on more than 50% of his races as a Mercedes driver.

Another mind-blowing showcase of his consistency is the fact that he has never gone out in Q2 in qualifying as a Mercedes driver. To make it into Q3 regardless of the circumstances deserves us all to look at him in awe. He's no slouch either as he has 17 pole positions to his name, second only to Lewis Hamilton since 2017.

He often goes under the radar due to his teammate always taking the spotlight. It's part of the bitter side of being a teammate to a 7-time world champion.

Most recently in 2021, he has had some stellar performances that truly show us why he deserves that Mercedes seat. Monza 2021, Bottas grabbed pole position but started at the back of the grid due to an engine penalty. He made up solid ground in the opening laps and finished on the podium against all the odds. Making up 17 places in any race is not an east feat and Valtteri did it so effortlessly.

Australia 2019 was also a commanding performance as he won the opening race of the season in style, finishing 20 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton. When asked what his secret to his success was, he replied with "I ate porridge for breakfast". That race was also the birth of an iconic VB quote.

"To whom it may concern, **** you" ~Valtteri Bottas 2019

He continued to show his consistency in the latest grand prix event in Istanbul, as he flawlessly took victory from pole position.

However, it cannot be ignored how he has been mistreated at Mercedes, constantly serving as a wingman to Lewis. On multiple occasions he has been asked to either let Lewis pass or his race has been sabotaged to help Lewis win. In Russia, when Max Verstappen took a grid penalty, Mercedes subsequently made Valtteri take a grid penalty in an attempt to keep Verstappen at bay.

A new chapter

In September, a long awaited move to Alfa Romeo came to light for Valtteri Bottas. He joins the Italian team on a multi year contract, his first as a racing driver. He is excited about what the future holds as the regulations are changing drastically for 2022 and could see many teams performing dramatically better or worse than the previous year. He has made it clear he intends to stay at Alfa and develop the car as best he can. He cannot wait for next season and neither can we, as we wait to see what Valtteri can do with the new machine next year.

cover image via cgtn.com