When Williams Racing announced that George Russell would remain with the team for 2021, fans were pretty much certain Valtteri Bottas would continue to race with Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team next year. Today, those predictions were officially confirmed by Mercedes to be true, as they made public their intentions to remain with the Finn until at least the end of the 2021 season.
The 30-year old driver has won 8 races so far in his 4 years with Mercedes, and his unique role within the team has helped secure 3 double World Championships to add to their collection. Throughout his time with the German marque, Bottas has been the subject of great scrutiny, having been accused of being a wing-man to team-mate Lewis Hamilton on a multitude of occasions. Still, the Finn has made it evidently clear his objectives are solely ‘to win’.
In a statement made by Bottas on Thursday 6th August 2020, he announced he was ‘very happy to stay with Mercedes’ and furthermore wanted to ‘build on the success’ that they have already enjoyed together, expressing how ‘proud’ he was to represent the team.
“Thank you to everyone in the team and the wider Mercedes family for their continued support and their trust in me. The past few years have been all about continuous improvement, working on every aspect of my performance. I’m confident that today I’m the strongest I’ve ever been, but I can always raise the bar. Mercedes embraces the same philosophy: They always want to get better and are always hungry for more.”
Bottas was also keen to add just how focused he is on the World Championship for this year and the next, and how he envisages a great deal of success with Mercedes in the future.
“Ever since I fell in love with F1 as a kid it’s been my dream to one day become world champion. I’m in the fight for the title this year and staying with Mercedes puts me in the best possible position to compete for it next season as well.”
Toto Wolff -Team Principal of Mercedes- proclaimed his delight to remain with Bottas for next year, saying he is ‘very excited that Valtteri will stay with the team for at least one more season’ and that this year the Finn is ‘the strongest we’ve ever seen’.
“I’m confident that we have the strongest driver pairing in F1 today and signing Valtteri is an important first step in retaining this strength for the future. Valtteri is a hard-working, straightforward guy who has a good relationship with the entire team – including his team-mate, which is not a given when both drivers are fighting for the championship.
“I’m looking forward to seeing him continue to raise the bar together with us this year and in 2021.”
