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Valtteri Bottas was elated about starting in the third row alongside his former team-mate Lewis Hamilton as he qualified sixth for the 2022 Bahrain GP. The Finn revealed that the former Mercedes team-mates were smiling when they saw each other after the qualifying session.
On being asked about the feeling of starting alongside Hamilton, Bottas said:
“We are starting side by side. Its pretty cool. I just saw him and we were smiling at each other. Should be fun.”
The Finn revealed he was elated at the third row start, after out-qualifying his Mercedes replacement George Russell. Bottas will start sixth on the grid, while his Mercedes replacement starts ninth.
Surprised by his own performance, Bottas said:
“End of last year if somebody told me in Bahrain we are going to be starting side by side with Lewis I’d take it. But this is the beginning, this is the starting point for our journey. Now we need to make sure we are looking ahead and moving forward rather than backwards. Its exciting!”
The Alfa Romeo driver out-qualified both Mercedes drivers in the first session and was within three tenths of a second off his former team-mate in the final session. Ideally, a good start should place the Finn ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the race.
Valtteri Bottas is glad to not receive messages in the race to let Lewis Hamilton through
The Alfa Romeo driver was reminded that he will definitely not get a message on the radio asking him to let the British champion through, to which confirmed the certainty of not having any orders over his radio. Elated to start in the third row alongside his former team-mate, the Finn will definitely have a point to prove in the race.
On being reminded that the Finn was not going to be getting a message asking him to let Lewis Hamilton pass through in the race, Bottas said:
“No, no, for sure, no. So it’s nice.”
As a wingman to the seven-time world champion, the 2021 season had plenty of instances where the Finn had to let the Briton pass during the race. Not having to play the same role or move out of the way, a good start might leapfrog him ahead of his former team-mate in the season opener.
Even if he manages to capitalize on the track position, it remains to be seen if the Alfa Romeo car has good race pace against the Mercedes, which is currently struggling with balance issues.
