Valtteri Bottas, in his first season with Alfa Romeo has discussed what he will bring to the table as the team fight back following a difficult 2021 season. Following a five year stint with Mercedes, Bottas will start the new era of Formula 1 with the aim of taking Alfa Romeo towards the front of the grid.

Bottas discusses his experience with Williams as well as Mercedes alongside Lewis Hamilton who he deems a “great guy and great driver”.

“It’s now the third team I’m racing with,” noted the Finn. “First obviously I was with Williams for four years, [then] with Mercedes for five years and with both teams we got some decent results and success, especially in the last five years.

“For sure I’ve been inside a team that knows how to win, what it really takes in terms of teamwork and in terms of the machinery and how you work. With the team spirit I’ve learned so much that if you can get the spirit up it really boosts the performance in every area.

“Of course I’ve gathered some knowledge as well and learned some things about driving along the way. So I try to put all of those things to the best use.”

Speaking on Hamilton, Bottas would reflect on his time racing alongside the seven time world champion, admitting he considers the time an honour.

“I had a great five years with Lewis [Hamilton] as his team-mate, and now actually thinking about it, it was an honour,” Bottas said. “Like, he’s a living legend! And he’s a great guy and great driver – really fast. He definitely made me work hard to try and beat him.

“Sometimes I could, but on a season average, I couldn’t. So that’s how it goes.

“You always meet – eventually – someone who’s better than you and you need to accept it. And I’m fine with it. I’m happy that sometimes when I was at my best that I could beat him.

“But we came a long way. We achieved so much together, so many 1-2 results. Five constructors’ championships together. I learned from him about life and about racing, and maybe vice versa as well. So, it was a really good time with him.”

Looking to the season ahead, Bottas was asked his opinion on the new generation of Formula 1 cars. The ten-time race winner says he feels the new car has potential, but there are issues which need to be worked on.

“I’ve got some kind of feeling of course.” Bottas quipped. “The nice feeling is I definitely feel there is potential. There is some strong areas in the car, in certain types of corners, but also, of course I immediately noticed points to work on. The balance, with some of the behaviour, but nothing that we shouldn’t be able to fix.

“It feels like we are still in very early stages of actually discovering the car. For me it was quite limited running that we had.Only running with two different tyre compounds, only with very few setups. So there’s still so much more to discover. That’s why we are really aiming to work hard between the tests and get a better understanding in Bahrain. 

“There is work to do. I’m not saying there’s anything against that, but I also feel like there is potential in this package. I’m looking forward to discovering more about it with the team.”

Bottas was also asked how the car felt when closely following other cars, a main aim of the new regulations. Bottas admits he did not spend much time following other cars but notes there was less of a noticeable difference from a greater difference. The Finn also notes the more powerful DRS system will also help to improve overtaking.

“I didn’t get that much experience [of following],” Bottas admits. “I didn’t get super close to other cars. The only thing I could feel was once I got to four seconds away, in the previous gen of cars you would already feel a deficit in the corners and a tiny bit of turbulent air. In that distance with the new cars it definitely felt like less effect.

“That’s pretty much as close as I got but I did chat with some other drivers. They said they got close, they said they had less slipstream effect but we’ll see. We will find out in Bahrain.

“It’s also an important point that the DRS effect is bigger this year because of the wider wing so maybe that will compensate to the loss of the slipstream.”