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Valterri Bottas

Valterri Bottas
  • Full Name: Valterri Bottas
  • Nationality: Finland
  • Podiums: 46 Age: 35 Points: 1314
  • Fastes Laps: 13 Races: 141 Victories: 8
  • Team:

Valtteri Viktor Bottas (Finnish pronunciation: [???lt?e?i ?bot??s]; born 28 August 1989) is a Finnish racing driver currently competing in Formula One with Mercedes, having previously driven for Williams from 2013 to 2016. Since joining Mercedes, Bottas has won eight races, three in 2017, four in 2019 and one in 2020.

 

On 16 January 2017, Mercedes announced that they signed Bottas for the 2017 season to partner Lewis Hamilton, replacing the 2016 World Champion Nico Rosberg following his shock retirement from the sport. Bottas finished 3rd in his first race as a Mercedes driver, the 2017 Australian Grand Prix, behind Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton. At the 2017 Chinese Grand Prix he spun behind the safety car and fell from 5th to 12th but managed to fight his way back to 6th place behind Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, the two Red Bulls and Kimi Räikkönen. He managed to qualify on pole ahead of Lewis Hamilton at the 2017 Bahrain Grand Prix, marking his first career pole position.

However, in the race he had to settle for third place after suffering from tyre pressure problems during his first stint, and being unable to find the pace to battle Vettel and Hamilton. He won the 2017 Russian Grand Prix on 30 April 2017, his first Grand Prix win, after jumping the Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen from 3rd on the grid on the first lap, making him the fifth Finn to win a Grand Prix. He retired from 3rd in the next race in Spain with an engine issue, having previously survived a collision with Verstappen and Räikkönen on the first lap that took the other two drivers out of the race. Mercedes was off the pace in Monaco, struggling to generate heat in the tyres. Nevertheless, Bottas qualified 3rd, less than a tenth of a second off the pole time, while his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, could only qualify 14th. Bottas finished 4th in the race, after Ricciardo jumped him during the pit stops. Bottas finished 2nd in Canada, behind teammate Hamilton, followed by a recovery drive in Azerbaijan to 2nd, having been in last place and a lap down following a collision with Räikkönen on the first lap. He used the multiple safety cars and red flag period to catch up to the pack and the ensuing chaos and drama in front of him allowed him to eventually snatch 2nd at the last moment of the last lap from Lance Stroll. Bottas topped this at the next race with a pole and victory at Austria, holding off Sebastian Vettel's charging Ferrari towards the end of the race, putting him only 15 points behind Hamilton in the championship

 

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