Valtteri Bottas is currently “really, really enjoying” his first season away from Mercedes with Alfa Romeo, with the Finnish driver admitting that his new team have a more “human” approach.
Bottas replaced 2016 F1 World Champion Nico Rosberg in 2017, after the German shocked the paddock with his immediate retirement following his title glory.
There is no argument that Bottas deserved to be signed by the Silver Arrows, after the 33-year-old performed very well during his time at Williams.
Bottas fitted the number two driver bill perfectly, with the Alfa Romeo driver having always had the pace for the podium but rarely for the race win.
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In his five-year spell at the Brackley-based team, Bottas claimed 10 victories and came second in the Drivers’ Championship in both 2019 and 2020, whilst partnering Sir Lewis Hamilton to five consecutive Constructors’ Championships from 2017-2021.
Bottas and Hamilton will go down as one of the most successful partnerships in the history of F1, given how many titles they won together.
However, in his final year at Mercedes things quickly spiralled out of control for the Finn, who massively underperformed.
It appeared that Bottas had somewhat accepted the fact that he was going to be replaced by George Russell, as the Finn set his eyes on a move to Alfa Romeo.
Bottas has suited Alfa Romeo perfectly and is currently P10 in the Drivers’ Championship on 46 points.
The going has been slightly more difficult for the Audi-linked team recently, who have fallen down the pecking order due to a lack of development.
This hasn’t stopped the Finn from having another dig at Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, who insists that Mercedes preferred to listen to the computers rather than himself and Hamilton.
“It is just how a top team works,” said Bottas.
“I feel like Lewis felt the same as well. He sometimes wanted to go in his direction, but the engineers would be like: ‘No, the computer says this’.
“So it was sometimes a bit of a battle but it is good to discuss those things and it’s just the way it is. They have pretty advanced technology and simulation tools that allow it and quite often the computer was right but not 100 per cent.”
Bottas believes he has a much bigger input into his set-up at Alfa Romeo, where he feels like the team has a “more human and driver” approach.
“The simulation tools are developing well in Hinwil, but for now, it feels like there is more human and driver effect on steering things, which I personally enjoy a lot.”
Bottas’ latest dig at Wolff comes after admitting he is under “less pressure” at Alfa Romeo, something which shouldn’t come as a surprise given the differences between the two sides.
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Whilst at Mercedes, the Finnish driver admits he “had a bit of a dip”; however, he is certain that he’s “definitely back” to his best.
“When I started F1, of course, everything was super exciting and you feel like you want to do this forever,” the Finn told the Italian version of Motorsport.com.
“Then for sure, in terms of the love for the sport, at some point, I had a bit of a dip. But now I feel like it’s definitely back. If you asked me today, how long would I want to drive? I’d say forever. I’m really, really enjoying it.”