Bottas to join Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen via a multi-year contract

After spending significant time racing under the flag of Mercedes, Valtteri Bottas has announced his plans to leave the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team at the end of the race season.

The vacant post will be filled by British racing protégé George Russell.

After Bottas leaves the Silver Arrow, the Finnish racer will then move to Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen — replacing retiree Kimi Raikkonen — and will sign a multi-year deal with the Hinwil-based team. Bottas brings a spectacular résumé with nine Grand Prix wins under his belt.

“A new chapter in my racing career is opening: I’m excited to join Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen for 2022 and beyond for what is going to be a new challenge with an iconic manufacturer. Alfa Romeo is a brand that needs no introduction, they have written some great pages of Formula One history and it’s going to be an honor to represent this marque. The potential of the setup in Hinwil is clear and I am relishing the opportunity to help lead the team forward up the grid, especially with the new regulations in 2022 giving the team a chance to make a leap in performance. I’m grateful for the trust the team has put in me and I cannot wait to repay their faith: I’m as hungry as ever to race for results and, when the time comes, for wins. I know Fred (Vasseur) well and I am looking forward to getting to know the rest of the team I am going to work with, building relationships as strong as the ones I have at Mercedes. I am proud of what I have achieved in Brackley and I am fully focused on finishing the job as we fight for another world championship, but I am also looking forward to the new challenges that await me next year,” Bottas said.

Bottas had a distinguished career in the junior formulas, becoming only the second driver to win both the Formula Renault Eurocup and the Formula Renault Northern European Cup in 2008. After winning the Masters of Formula 3 in both 2009 and 2010, Bottas moved up to the GP3 Series where he claimed the title after winning four races.

His debut in Formula One took place in 2013 where the Finn emerged as one of the brightest talents in the sport. In 2017, Bottas signed with Mercedes where he drove with his good friend and teammate Lewis Hamilton.

“I'm immensely proud to have worked alongside Valtteri for the last five years. Together, we've been part of a team that has delivered four Constructors' Championships, and we've motivated one another to keep pushing through the ups and the downs,” Hamilton wrote in his Twitter account. To which he adds, “He has been the best teammate I've had the pleasure of working with.”

To date, Valtteri Bottas has accumulated nine wins, 17 pole positions, and 63 podiums. With new regulations providing a great reset in the sport, the opportunity is there for the Alfa Romeo Racing team and Bottas to write a new, successful story together.

"We are excited to welcome such an experienced driver as Valtteri Bottas to the big Alfa Romeo community. The values of efficiency, stability, and performance that Alfa Romeo is redefining for its own future are perfectly embodied by a driver like Valtteri, together with whom we hope to write new chapters of a glorious sporting history," commented Alfa Romeo CEO, Jean Philippe Imparato.

Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen’s Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur also welcomes Bottas and explains that he and the Finn go way back. “Our relationship goes back a long way, to when we worked together in successful campaigns in F3 and GP3, and his talent and skills have been evident ever since, only growing with the time: I’m really looking forward to seeing him put his ability to work for the good of the team. The multi-year deal bringing him to us gives both Valtteri and the team the stability we need to build our project at a crucial time for Formula One: we are excited for what the future holds in store.”

Photos from Stellantis and Formula One

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