Valtteri Bottas has been Lewis Hamilton’s teammate at Mercedes ever since Nico Rosberg retired from Formula 1 after winning the 2016 F1 World Championship.
Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas currently drive for the Stake F1 Team and Bottas is the driver who has been paired with Hamilton for the longest time. With the news of Hamilton joining Ferrari starting in 2025, Bottas is keeping his options open for the upcoming silly season.
The Finnish driver has achieved 10 victories during his partnership with Hamilton from 2017 to 2021. Bottas previously expressed disbelief at the idea of Hamilton moving to Scuderia Ferrari, but now he is considering the possibility of reuniting with his former team.
Bottas is known as a dependable driver that teams can rely on. He holds the record for the most consecutive Q3 appearances in the history of Formula 1. Initially, it was expected that he would stay with Sauber (now Stake) until their transition to Audi in 2026. However, with the changing landscape of F1, a potential return to Mercedes may be in the cards for Bottas.
Bottas joined Mercedes in 2017 after Nico Rosberg, the reigning world champion at the time, decided to retire following his first championship win. Bottas was brought in as Mercedes’ second driver to support Hamilton and prevent any clashes between him and Rosberg.
Before joining the Mercedes team, Bottas was even approached by Ferrari and was considered one of the fastest drivers in F1. However, after joining Mercedes, he became Hamilton’s second driver and gained notoriety with the radio message “Valtteri, It’s James.”
Feeling that his potential was being wasted at Mercedes and with the arrival of the talented George Russell, Bottas made the decision to switch to Alfa Romeo Sauber (now Stake F1 Team). Now, the Finnish driver is contemplating the possibility of returning to his previous team with newfound confidence.
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