Valtteri Victor Bottas is a racing driver competing under the Finnish flag and for Alfa Romeo in the Formula One.
The Finnish professional racer comes with an impressive racing record after a fine career with Mercedes, including winning 10 races, 19 fastest laps and 20 pole positions and 67 podiums. He also holds championship titles in the 2008 Formula Renault 2.0 NEC, 2008 Formula Renault Eurocup, and the 2011 GP3 Series.
Career
Bottas was born in the beautiful town of Nastola in Finland to Marianne Valimaa and Rauno Bottas. He studied in Heinola a town that is less than an hour’s drive away from Nastola. Before becoming a professional racing driver, he served in the army for a short while as a government compliance and earned a lance corporal rank.
| Team |
Alfa Romeo
|
| Born | 28 Aug 1989 |
| Nationality |
Finland
|
| Team History | |
|
Alfa Romeo
|
2022 - present |
Mercedes
|
2017 - 2021 |
Williams F1
|
2013 - 2016 |
Just like majority of the Formula One racers, Bottas also began his racing career in karting. During the 2005 Karting World Cup, he finished in eights place while driving for the PDB racing Team. In 2008, he won the Formula Renault Northern European Cup and the Formula Renault Eurocup.
In the 2009 season, Bottas moved up to compete under the Formula 3 Euroseries. By 2010, he became a test drive for the Formula One team, Williams. This continued until 2012. By 2013, he was officially part of the Formula One series and was competing for Williams. He stayed with Williams until 2016 and was able to get the 4th place position at the end of the 2014 season. During this season, he earned a total of 186 points, 6 podiums and 1 fastest lap. Furthermore, Bottas signed with Mercedes during the 2017 season. During this season, he was able to earn the 3rd place position after winning 3 races, 4 poles, 2 fastest laps, and 13 podiums. In the 2019 and 2020 season, he was in the second-place position and won a total of 6 races.
At the end of the 2021 F1 season he left Mercedes, replaced by George Russell, to join Alfa Romeo.
Formula One Career Highlights
- 10 wins
- 67 podiums
- 20 pole positions
- 1797 career points
- 19 fastest laps
