Valtteri Bottas

Valtteri Bottas will once again drive with Sauber for the 2024 F1 season, his third campaign with the rebranded Swiss-based team.

Valtteri Bottas F1 Career - (2013 - Present)

Making his debut in the Australian Grand Prix, Bottas’ maiden campaign was hamstrung by a car that - while a winner the previous season - struggled for performance despite the same Renault engine powering Red Bull Racing to title glory. 

Proving an instant match for race-winning team Maldonado, Bottas proved a steady pair of hands, suffering only two DNFs but struggling to get near the points as Williams slid down the hierarchy for 2013. 

However, there were still highlights, namely in a rain-affected Canadaian Grand Prix when he qualified in third position - slipping back to 14th in the race - before breaking his points duck with a solid run to eighth position in the US Grand Prix.

Those four points ensured he finished ahead of Maldonado (on a single point) and convinced Williams to retain him for 2014.

Despite a difficult rookie campaign, Bottas came into 2014 with renewed confidence following Williams’ early move in 2013 to switch its attentions to the overhaul in technical and engine regulations for 2014 well in advance of the new season.

Boasting bold new backing from Martini and equipped with new Mercedes V6 Hybrid power units, Williams were the revelation of the 2014 with the car proving competitive out of the box in stark contrast to the previous year. Though Bottas didn’t quite harness this potential initially as he played second fiddle to new signing Felipe Massa, by mid-season the Finn had the measure of his more experienced team-mate. 

Firmly establishing himself as a contender with six top ten finishes from the opening seven races, Bottas made his first trip to the podium in the Austrian Grand Prix with a third place finish, which he followed up with a pair of seconds at the next British Grand Prix and German Grand Prix. 

With Williams arguably the second fastest team on track, helped in part by Mercedes’ superior V6 Hybrid powertrain, Bottas clinched three more podiums before the season was out to secure a vastly improved fourth in the overall standings, well ahead of 2009 F1 runner-up Massa.

With Ferrari and Renault-engined rivals closing the gap to Mercedes in power terms, Williams were unable to retain its ‘best of the rest’ mantle from the previous year, but again Bottas made the most of his equipment for another creditable podium-winning campaign.

Stepping on the rostrum in Canada and Mexico, Bottas was once more a steady hand and again quicker than Massa to finish fifth overall.

He might have won top Finnish status from Kimi Raikkonen had the 2008 F1 champion not biffed him out of third place on the final lap of the Russian Grand Prix, but he’d instead finish just 14 points shy of matching his best from the previous year.

With Williams’ erstwhile advantage over its privateer rivals further eroded coming into 2016, Bottas became less of a feature at the front of the field but remained a regular point-scorer at the wheel of the FW38.

A season defined by sheer consistency, Bottas scored in 15 of the 21 races, but only stepped on the podium once, making the most of his Mercedes power unit’s speed advantage for another podium on the horsepower-hungry Gilles Villeneuve Circuit at the Canadian Grand Prix. 

He’d end the year eighth overall, once more well clear of Massa, and primed for a fifth season in Williams colours - despite interest from Renault - until his eleventh hour call from Mercedes transformed his career.

With Nico Rosberg stunning the F1 world by opting to end his career on the high of his tense 2016 F1 title win, the fallout led to frantic action behind the scenes as Mercedes sought a worthy replacement amid feverish media speculation. 

Even so, it was Bottas - despite his Williams deal - that quickly emerged as the favourite to succeed Rosberg in the dominant Mercedes seat, with Toto Wolff’s board member privileges helping him switch contracts over from the British outfit. 

Partnering Lewis Hamilton, Bottas quickly adapted to Mercedes machinery and didn’t take long to make the most of the car’s enduring advantage over the competition with podiums in two of the opening three rounds, plus a maiden pole position in the Bahrain Grand Prix.

A first win quickly came in Round 4 in the 2017 Russian Grand Prix after an assured performance that had many speculating whether he could fill the void left by the outgoing champion and prove a close contender for his all-star team-mate. 

However, Bottas would settle into a supporting role for Hamilton - a status largley emulated over the coming seasons - by proving a close match but consistently unable to mount a definitive challenge against the Briton. 

That’s not to say he didn’t out-perform Hamilton on occasions with two more successes occurring in Austria and Abu Dhabi, but while his efforts were more than enough for Mercedes to secure its much desired constructors’ crown, he lost out to the runners-up spot to Sebastian Vettel.

With a year under his belt, Bottas was expected to mount a more convincing challenge to Hamilton for 2018 but endured a troublesome season which, aligned with a team-mate that was seemingly getting better and better, put his seat under risk mid-season.

Failing to win a race at all in a year that saw Hamilton clinch 11 (the first time since 2012 that Mercedes didn’t have a race winning pairing), while gains from rivals could account for some of the change in fortune, fifth overall (four points shy of third) was an indictment of the Finn’s more precarious position.

He was unfortunate though with an almost certain win in Baku scuppered by a puncture while leading with only two laps remaining.

Despite this, it wasn’t enough to unseat Mercedes from the head of the constructors’ standings and with Bottas not creating any significant ructions’ in the team - compared with Hamilton’s ‘frenemy’ Rosberg - it was decided to keep the Finn on for another two years.

Gaining confidence from having a solid two-year deal in his back pocket, Bottas went on to enjoy his best F1 season in 2019 even if he remained largely unable to penetrate Hamilton’s stranglehold on the title trophy,.

A measured win out of the box in Australia was followed by a second of the year during Round 4 in Baku, giving rise to the so-called more aggressive ‘Bottas 2.0’ mantle but despite an impressive nine podiums from ten races, Hamilton’s streak of wins would put air between the pair.

This was even before the Finn missed a golden opportunity to catch up during the German Grand Prix when he crashed out just laps before Hamilton did the same in difficult conditions. 

Bottas maintained the pressure on Hamilton that would have punished any glaring errors from the Briton but despite topping the podium again in Japan and the USA, his Mercedes counterpart wrapped up the crown with two rounds to spare.

Beginning his fourth season with Mercedes, Bottas got the truncated 2020 F1 campaign off to a good start by soaking up pressure from Hamilton to win the curtain raiser in Austria and laid down the foundations of a title battle with six podiums in the opening seven races.

However, his one non-score would come at Silverstone when his tyre blew with just over a lap to go, a fate that also befell Hamilton, but the Briton would coast his Mercedes across the line for victory. 

In what would prove arguably Hamilton and Mercedes’ most convincing title rout yet, Bottas could largely keep up with Hamilton and proved particularly strong in qualifying with five pole positions from 17 races, but was rarely ahead with only a second victory coming in Sochi for the Russian Grand Prix. This would be enough to secure the runners-up spot for the second consecutive year.

More interestingly, however, was the unexpected comparison he’d face alongside Williams F1 driver and Mercedes development racer George Russell, who was called up for the Sakhir Grand Prix to replace the COVID-stricken Lewis Hamilton.

While Bottas had a one-year deal signed and sealed prior to the race, the event was seen as a perfect opportunity to test Russell against the driver many believe he is being primed to replace for 2022 if Hamilton doesn’t retire. 

Bottas held the advantage after qualifying, albeit by just 0.040secs around the sub-1min Bahrain configuration, but after being beaten to the first corner looked set to suffer an ignominious defeat at the hands of his British rival, who was on course to win having failed to score in two years of racing with now-minnows Williams.

In the end Bottas was spared some embarrassment when Mercedes erroneously fitted his tyres to Russell’s car during a VSC period. Earning Russell a penalty and another pit-stop en route to ninth, it also delayed Bottas down to eighth at the chequered flag. 

Bottas simply couldn't match Hamilton or Verstappen's speed or consistency as the temperamental W12 led to an inconsistent run of performances in the first part of the season. 

The Finn showed his class on occasions with a fine drive from the back of the grid after an engine penalty at Monza to finish third or his dominant win from pole position at Istanbul Park.

Bottas' performances earned him third in the drivers' championship and ensured Mercedes secured the constructors' championship in 2021.

Life with Alfa Romeo started strongly for Bottas with six points finishes in the opening seven races.

His impressive form allowed Alfa Romeo to ultimately finish sixth in the constructors' championship - their best finish since 2012 when they were Sauber.

Alfa Romeo regressed in 2023, enduring a disappointing season in which they slipped to ninth place in the constructors' championship. 

As a result, points were few and far between for Bottas, who managed just 10 in 2023. The Finn once again got the better of teammate Zhou Guanyu.