Valtteri Bottas aiming to replicate Lewis Hamilton-style partnership with Guanyu Zhou at Alfa Romeo

Lewis Hamilton's working partnership with Valtteri Bottas at Mercedes was one of the most successful in the history of F1. The Finn now wants to replicate that dynamic at his new team, Alfa Romeo, with incoming rookie Guanyu Zhou.

Bottas was teammates with Lewis Hamilton for five seasons at Mercedes. During that time, the Silver Arrows won five consecutive constructors' championships. Hamilton also won the drivers' world title in four out of five seasons. Much of that success was built on the foundation of the pair's dynamic with each other.

During an interview with The Race, Bottas discussed his move to Alfa Romeo for 2022 and the prospect of teaming up with Guanyu Zhou, China's first F1 driver. The Finn said:

“As a driver, your first year in F1 is never easy. There’s always lots of things to learn. But nowadays, every team is so professional there’s lots of people that the drivers, they get so much support, so much coaching and help that I’m sure that he (Guanyu Zhou) will develop quickly.”

Bottas also commended Guanyu's performances in F2 and expects to be able to work well with the 22-year-old Chinese rookie. He said:

“He’s raced for a long time, a few years in F2 and actually now this year some really, really good results. He’s always been fast, there’s no doubt about that. He seems really hungry to learn more and do well. And we’ll work as a team. Every team-mate that I’ve had I’ve always been able to work well with them. I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t work with him.”

Bottas spent much of his Mercedes tenure playing second fiddle to Hamilton. Now, he expects to take all his learnings from his time with the Silver Arrows and put it to use with Alfa Romeo.

---

Lewis Hamilton's 2021 Abu Dhabi defeat 'a very bad thing', according to Nyck de Vries

Lewis Hamilton's controversial loss to Max Verstappen at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was 'a very bad thing', as per Nyck de Vries.

The Dutchman is Mercedes' reserve driver for the upcoming 2022 campaign. He is also the reigning Formula E world champion with the Silver Arrows.

De Vries spoke on Hamilton's last-lap defeat to Verstappen during an interview with GPFans' affiliates in the Netherlands. He said:

“On that particular Sunday in Abu Dhabi, he (Lewis Hamilton) did everything needed to win the title. They [FIA race control] made some decisions that were not by the book and actually came as a surprise, and that ultimately deprived him of the championship. That is, of course, a very bad thing and I don’t think that should be possible in sports. But what do you do with it? I don't know.”

The 37-year-old Briton is awaiting the results of the FIA's ongoing internal investigation into the matter. He will decide on his future in the sport based on the same.