Red Bull prioritised Max Verstappen’s fight against Sir Lewis Hamilton in the 2021 Drivers’ Championship over their battle against Mercedes in the Constructors’ Championship, former F1 racer Jolyon Palmer has said. Verstappen won 10 races last year, finishing on the podium 18 times while only failing to finish in the top two on four occasions.
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Former Formula 1 driver Jolyon Palmer and motorsport commentator Jack Nicholls have suggested that Mercedes ought to have signed Lando Norris as Valtteri Bottas’ successor, not George Russell. Bottas departed the Constructors’ Champions at the end of the 2021 season having helped guide them to their eighth consecutive success, and moved to Alfa Romeo. The
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Alfa Romeo driver Valtteri Bottas does not believe that the 2022 Formula 1 car will be all that different from the current generation. The Finn departed serial Constructors’ Champions Mercedes following five years with the team, and will now join partner young Chinese driver Guanyu Zhou – making for an all-new line-up at Alfa Romeo
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Alfa Romeo team principal Frederic Vasseur says he would have been happy to speak to the departing Kimi Raikkonen about remaining in Formula 1 with the team next year, but affirms that he would have needed full commitment from the Finn. The 53-year-old will be working with a brand new driver line-up in the 2022
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Bernie Ecclestone, the former chief executive officer of Formula 1, has said that Mercedes could have guaranteed Sir Lewis Hamilton victory in the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The seven-time world champion overtook Verstappen on the opening lap and looked comfortable throughout the grand prix, but a late Safety Car turned the race on its
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Alfa Romeo driver Valtteri Bottas has mixed feelings about his five seasons at Mercedes after departing the team at the end of the 2021 Formula 1 season. Bottas claimed 10 victories with the Silver Arrows, winning five Constructors’ Championships with the German manufacturer and often providing support for team-mate Sir Lewis Hamilton, as the Briton
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Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has told Valtteri Bottas that he deserved another win with the team, accepting that he “robbed” the Finn of victory at the 2018 Russian Grand Prix. Following Bottas’ departure after a four-year tenure with Mercedes, he sat down with Wolff for one final sit-down with the Austrian, in which they
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Valtteri Bottas took Sir Lewis Hamilton’s championship defeat to Max Verstappen as a personal loss for himself, with the Finn “gutted” that Mercedes were unable to seal both titles in Abu Dhabi. Bottas contested his final race as a Mercedes driver on Sunday, but was unable to involve himself in the leading pack, to the
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Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz has spoken of his confusion over an unprecedented Safety Car situation at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Sainz secured his fourth podium finish of the season in Abu Dhabi, narrowly besting Yuki Tsunoda and Valtteri Bottas on the last lap, to take fifth in the Drivers’ Championship. However, the last-gasp
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Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has dismissed Valtteri Bottas’ suggestion that his performance with the team was hindered as a result of his future with the Silver Arrows constantly being in doubt. The Finn joined Mercedes in 2017 as Sir Lewis Hamilton’s team-mate following Nico Rosberg’s retirement from the sport, and he was on a
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