F1 | Bottas praises Hamilton: "Being his teammate is an opportunity"

Not a struggle, not a difficulty or a penalty: Valtteri Bottas is happy and proud to be a teammate of four-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. Of course, the battle with the Englishman is very challenging, but the number 77 of the Mercedes he thanks him, because he has learned a lot with him and he knows what else he will learn from his closeness.

"When Nico Rosberg has decided to retreat, has offered us a very interesting winter: racing against Lewis Hamilton is a great challenge, but it's something I've been waiting for. Being next to Lewis is more of an opportunity than a risk,” commented Bottas. This was a big one for the Finn opportunity: “When I saw a kart for the first time, I chose that I wanted to become a driver, I was six years old at the time,” Bottas continued. After a few years of karting, then, the biggest decision: “It was very clear, the year after competing in the national championship I had a very bad season, I was very angry because I only wanted to win, so I completely changed my mentality and it was at that point that I realized I had to work harder to make a living from this,” added the Finn, explaining how he had to change his mentality and approach if he wanted to make a career in the motoring world. And so it was, until the great chance of his career arrived: in 2018 Bottas will face his sixth season in the Circus. From 2013 to 2016 he was in Williams where in reality he had signed a contract for 2017. But the sudden retirement of Nico Rosberg opened a gap in the team Toto wolff and the Finn seized the opportunity. And the next goal? “Win at least one World Cup,” he concluded.

Fabiola Granier