Bottas announced farewell to Mercedes himself: 'Think about myself'

Mercedes announced last year that Valtteri Bottas would leave the team. The Finn, who was under contract for no less than five seasons with the German racing team, took the decision to leave himself. He tells that in conversation with Formule1.nl.

Bottas received a lot of criticism over the past few years. Where Nico Rosberg managed to compete with Lewis Hamilton and even win a world championship, the Scandinavian driver did not come close to the performance of the seven-time world champion during their time together. It was therefore a question of when, not if, Mercedes would opt for another driver.

That moment came last year when Mercedes said goodbye to Bottas and brought in George Russell. With the newcomer, Mercedes hopes to improve even more. According to Bottas, it was not the German racing team, but he himself who decided to go to a smaller team.

"Around the summer break of 2021 I decided that I just had to think about myself. To what I need in the coming years and what makes me happy in this sport," Bottas, who expects a lot from himself at Alfa Romeo, told us. "I think it's normal that I will play a leading role because of my experience."