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Outgoing Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas has reportedly received his first race-winning F1 car from the team as a “parting gift”. Bottas is heading to Alfa Romeo in 2022 after five successful seasons with the German team.
Speaking on his podcast Suoraa Puhetta Minusta, the Finn said:
“They had a little surprise when I came to the factory on the last day. They gave me my first winning car in 2017. Just a nice gift... I don’t have room for it now though!”
Bottas visited the Mercedes factory in Brackley for the last time in mid-December to celebrate the team’s record-breaking eighth world championship. The Finn has played a key role in helping the team clinch five of those titles since his arrival in 2017. He took nearly a dozen victories — including his first at the 2017 Russian Grand Prix — an equal number of pole positions, and more than 30 podiums.
Despite spending five years in the team, during some of the most dominant periods in their history, Bottas failed to mount a championship challenge. Although he showed glimpses of championship potential, particularly in 2019, his general inconsistency, especially during races, meant his title campaigns mostly lost steam by mid-season.
The Finn has previously revealed that the pressure due to his rolling contracts with the team affected his performance. He reportedly put his foot down last year and demanded a longer-term contract, which was refused by Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff.
2022 regulations are a “minefield littered with boxes of treasure”: Mercedes technical chief
Mercedes' technical chief James Allison has described the 2022 technical regulations as a potential “minefield littered with boxes of treasure”. Allison has revealed that his team has been working hard to pick through the new sweeping ruleset to find opportunities.
Speaking of the team’s prospect for the upcoming season in a video posted on the team’s official channel, Allison said:
“There’s opportunity. There’s opportunity, and of course, there’s Jeopardy, and we try to pick our way through the potential minefield and picking up all the little boxes of treasure that may be set in amongst the landmines. To end up to the car that we hope will see us pitching at the front of the grid.”
Allison has described the sweeping aerodynamic regulations as some of the biggest he has ever seen throughout his time in the sport. The new rules are aimed at solving one of the biggest gripes about the sport in recent years – lack of organic overtaking.
F1 is hoping that 2022 cars will be able to follow each other more closely, especially in high-speed corners, thereby creating closer wheel-to-wheel action, and without the need for external aids such as DRS (Drag Reduction System).
