After leaving Mercedes Valtteri Bottas reveals he had the option of going to Williams or Alfa Romeo for 2022, and he chose Alfa Romeo.
At the end of 2021 Valtteri Bottas left Mercedes after five years with the team. He signed a long-term contract with Alfa Romeo, but on the Beyond the Grid podcast he revealed he had an option of going to Williams.
“Yes, there was. There was an option,” the Finn said.
“For me I think, realistically, for long-term at that point, with not so many options, it was either Williams or Alfa Romeo.”
Bottas started his Formula 1 career back in 2013 with Williams, and considering the team is powered by Mercedes, it might have seemed like a more fitting option.
“It was not [an] easy decision,” he explained.
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“I tried to take as much information as I could from both sides, and at the same time, listen to my gut feeling. Just based on the decision, on information that I had.
“[It was] not easy. I really feel like Williams is on the upside now. I think they have a good future. But somehow I had a feeling that Alfa was the right thing for me.”
Valtteri then revealed one of the reasons for his decision was the fact that the team had no connections to Mercedes.
“It was kind of nice to go to non-Mercedes power. Not to have the link, completely new, something completely different for me,” Valtteri concluded.