IT'S OFFICIAL: Valtteri Bottas Signs With Alfa Romeo Next F1 Season Which Can Only Mean One Thing
Massive news unfolding this morning from the F1 world. Valtteri Bottas has signed a multi-year deal with Alfa Romeo beginning in 2022. Since 2017, Bottas has been the #2 car for Mercedes behind the most winningest F1 driver in history, Sir Lewis Hamilton. In Season 3 of Drive to Survive, Bottas opened up about his animosity towards Lewis Hamilton because Bottas has been living in Lewis' shadow since joining Mercedes.
The news about Bottas leaving may have been shocking to some, but the biggest surprise was Valtteri joining Alfa Romeo, who is currently ranked 9th (out of 10 total).
In 2019 and 2020 both, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas went 1st and 2nd, respectively, for the Drivers' Championship title. So, the biggest question that Bottas has to answer in 2022 after leaving Mercedes - Is Bottas a great F1 driver or was he just in the best F1 car?
Since 2014, Mercedes has completely dominated F1 racing winning the World Constructors Championship title every single year. So Bottas will be taking a massive step backwards in terms of car performance. Next year will be a huge year to show his true skill.
What Does This Mean For Mercedes?
This is where I'll turn to in-house F1 guru, Logan. The man lives + breathes F1 racing. His prediction for Mercedes?
Russell to Mercedes…
George Russell, who previously placed 2nd in that bizarre Belgian Grand Prix, is one of the most talented young names in F1. In 2021, he raced for Williams (notoriously known for being a poor car as of late), but he pushes the car to its maximum potential. If Mercedes can lock up Russell in 2022 then I don't see any team being able to take down the behemoth of Mercedes.
Glow up much?
Red Bull's best (and maybe only) chance to stop Mercedes is to clone Max Verstappen.
RIP the Bottas-Mercedes era.
As always, PUSH PUSH.