Turning into Alfa Romeo F1 Chief Got here Naturally to Valtteri Bottas

It’s been a yr of evolution in System 1 in 2022, the game launched sweeping adjustments to its vehicles to result in nearer racing, there’s a brand new two-time World Champion on the town and Valtteri Bottas left a dominant Mercedes F1 workforce to affix midfield squad Alfa Romeo.

“Up to now it has been actually fascinating,” says the brand new Alfa Romeo driver when we discuss forward of this weekend’s U.S. Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.

With his new workforce, Bottas has gone from preventing for race wins towards former teammate Lewis Hamilton to being the elder statesman in a squad seeking to play the lengthy sport and climb up the pecking order.

“The beginning of the yr was a bit higher than we anticipated, we have been constantly scoring good factors,” says Bottas.

“However as it’s a challenge the place we purpose for long run positive factors, not in a single day positive factors, it was a bit stunning. Issues have been a bit difficult since then, I believe with the challenges we’ve confronted, like with the reliability and so forth, as soon as we overcome these, that’s going to assist us sooner or later.

“And already, I believe for subsequent yr’s automotive we’ve understood many issues that we will do higher from this yr.”

The ‘Outdated Man’ at Alfa Romeo

On the Italian workforce, Bottas companions 2022 rookie Zhou Guanyu. After years spent racing alongside extra skilled teammates equivalent to Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa, Bottas now finds himself because the elder mentor at Alfa Romeo.

“I’m having fun with it,” he says, throughout an interview organized by Alfa Romeo sponsor Hyland. “It’s a unique form of position within the workforce as properly – being the extra skilled driver, having a bit extra say on issues is basically pleasant.”

Up to now this yr, Bottas and Zhou have helped Alfa Romeo to sixth within the constructors standings. The squad has 52 factors after 18 races, however Bottas has confirmed the breadwinner and thus far notched up 46 of the workforce’s haul.

The Fin has additionally thus far, out-qualified his a lot youthful teammate on 12 events in 2022. However, his position on the Italian workforce is about setting an instance for his younger accomplice.

He says: “I can relate so properly to my teammate, having a primary yr in F1 with a variety of stress and having to show that you simply belong in F1. It’s not simple, and also you need to be taught and enhance as quick as you’ll be able to. You need to ask questions of your teammate, and that’s what he has been doing. He has been studying lots, has been actually constant and we’ve seen good progress of him.

“And for me, it was at all times going to come back a time that I’d be the outdated man within the workforce. So I take it, and it’s enjoyable. I get pleasure from it.”

Because the “outdated man” at Alfa Romeo, Bottas is seemed to as a frontrunner because it eyes advances up the grid. It’s a task that’s new to him, after 9 years alongside skilled teammates. However, he says it has “been actually pure” stepping as much as the plate.

And, he says he’s seen similarities between his relationship with Zhou and the partnership he fashioned with skilled drivers equivalent to Pastor Maldonado and Felipe Massa in his early days at Williams.

“I bear in mind how a lot I might be taught in my early stage of my profession from the extra skilled drivers,” he says. “It seems like yesterday, so I positively can relate.”

Closing Upgrades of the 12 months

Now, with simply 4 races left on the 2022 season, Bottas says consideration at Alfa Romeo has switched to its 2023 marketing campaign, when the workforce hopes to be taught from its struggles this yr. As such, the workforce will convey one ultimate replace to this weekend’s race in Austin.

“Again on the manufacturing unit, the event switched to subsequent yr fairly some time in the past,” explains Bottas.

“We nonetheless have new upgrades coming on account of how lengthy it takes to make the elements, however they’ve been within the pipeline for fairly a while. This week, we’re getting the final upgrades for the yr. However when it comes to the wind tunnel hours and the whole lot, the whole lot has been already targeted on subsequent yr for a very long time.”

The event of subsequent yr’s automotive will deal with ironing out the weak factors the workforce has run into in 2022. Subsequent yr’s Alfa Romeo automotive will probably be “a brand new automotive, principally,” based on Bottas, who provides that the workforce is “attempting to make it quicker and extra dependable.”