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Valtteri Bottas says Lewis Hamilton has been “an awesome team-mate”, and adds he can “definitely say” they are “friends”.
Valtteri Bottas will be leaving Mercedes at the end of 2021, after five years with the team. During his appearance on the F1 Nation podcast, the Finn said he will miss the people he worked with, including team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
“At Mercedes, obviously, many, many people I’ve become friends with,” Bottas said.
“We’ve spent so much time together in the last five years in the races and at the factory. And of course, the memories I’ve built with the team – being able to be a part of four Constructors’ titles together, and hopefully a fifth one.
“The wins, the amount of podiums I’ve got with the team, all those [I] definitely will miss, and the same thing with Lewis.
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“It’s been an absolute pleasure and a real honour working with Lewis, and we’ve been able to work as a team really nicely.
“We have good respect and he’s been an awesome team-mate, and I’ve learned a lot from him. I’ve got no doubt he’s going to do well in the future as well.”
Bottas even went a step further and said he considers Lewis to be his friend.
“I can definitely say that we are friends. It’s really such a good respect both ways. Of course, we are racing each other, but we are very much a team.
“If you look at the past few years, name a better team. We’ve accomplished quite a bit,” Valtteri concluded.
