Formula One driver Valtteri Bottas is reportedly in talks with the Alfa Romeo team to get one of their seats for the 2022 season – The Swiss team powered by Ferrari, which is pretty much their junior team, would mean a surprise switch to a rival outfit.
This is what the French newspaper “L’Équipe” said on Friday, and indeed confirm some rumours this website has been sent some time ago.
The 31-year-old Finn is currently with Mercedes and will almost certainly be replaced by young British driver Williams George Russell in 2022.
At Alfa Romeo, the returns of drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi have not been confirmed. The Italian team is newly managed by Frederic Vasseur, who worked with Bottas in F3 and GP3. Vasseur is said to have full powers to choose his drivers, according to L’Equipe.
Obviously, Ferrari would push for this move as Bottas would bring with him valuable information on Mercedes.
Bottas is in his fifth campaign with Mercedes, having previously driven for Williams for four seasons. In 2021, he is fourth in the drivers’ standings with 108 points. He is 77 points behind leader Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and 69 points behind teammate Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes).
Judge, your favourite French residing British journalist posted this on tuesday… 3days even before l’equipe
Assume that was the the rumour you mentioned
He’s only British when it suits G and there’s no guarantee that he’s right because he only reports the BS that his mate Toto feeds him.
SO many things to pick apart in this one, despite only being 1 sentence
When has he ever said that he is French (or anything else for that matter)? He may be critical of certain things that are “British” but then so am I – I just dont have a platform to air my views.
However I guess X number of decades living in France would give one a slightly different perspective. Having said that, he’s equally critical about a lot of things in different countries… balance and all that
Also, I am pretty certain he A) doesn’t just get information from Toto, B) wouldn’t actually regard them as “mates”, and C) does publish news he has sourced from elsewhere
If its all the same, I would place greater value on the news launched by a 35year veteran journalist… I’m still waiting for RedBull to announce Andy Cowell as their latest recruit – LOL
Bottas would be smart to talk to Red Bull.
How?
By telephone…
Rolls eyes
You know what I meant….
They’re not going to risk a race winner in the current season, for the instability of the 4th new driver in 4 years, when they will be desperate to win the constructors in their 1st season as full manufacturer
By almost very objective assessment of Perez this year shows that he is only marginally better than Albon. The one stat that jumps out the most is that the average starting position for Perez is 7.3. Whether you believe the Red Bull is the best car or co-equal to M-B, Perez should be starting nor lower than 4th or 5th. Perez was brought in to cover Verstappen like Bottas covers Hamilton. He’s not doing that and one fluke win doesn’t change that. And after 10 races he’s still trying to sell the line that he’s still learning, showing he shouldn’t be there. He can’t leverage his sponsors money’s within the team like he did in the past. As for Bottas, a move to Sauber / Alfa indicates the end of his career just as it did for Raikkonen. A move to Red Bull would be better for him and Red Bull.
Perez has won 2 races in the last 12 months
So has Bottas….
Also, if Bottas is getting nowhere whilst pitting himself against Lewis, why do you think it would be any different going up against Max? At least Mercedes create the impression of open competition and fairness between drivers (at times, like at the start of the season or when the points are close) – RB are entirely unapologetic in their butt licking of Super Max the Almighty
Bottas would literally be stepping out of the frying pan and into the fire and his pride couldn’t take it
Bottas isn’t at M-B to challenge Hamilton – he’s there to support him and score as many points as he can for the WC. Anyone who thinks that either Bottas or Rosberg are / were there to challenge Hamilton is deluded. That goes way back when Rosberg was told to stand behind Hamilton at the 2013 Malaysian GP. Nothing has changed.
Tell that to Bottas