Formula One driver Valtteri Bottas is leaving Mercedes at the end of the season and replacing the retiring Kimi Raikkonen at Alfa Romeo. (More Sports News)
The Alfa Romeo team said Monday that Bottas had signed a multi-year deal, paving the way for George Russell to replace Bottas at Mercedes.
For Bottas, it is a sad end to a Mercedes career that never really took off after he replaced then-world champion Nico Rosberg in 2017.
Although he won four races into his Mercedes career with victory at the Russian GP, the 32-year-old Finnish driver never mounted a serious title challenge the way Rosberg did in 2014 and 2016.
Bottas claimed the last of his nine victories at the Russian GP in September last year — a streak of 20 races without a win.
He finished a dismal fifth overall after failing to win a race in 2018 and ended that season with four straight fifth-place finishes.
Bottas is third overall this year but nearly 100 points behind teammate Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull's Max Verstappen after 13 races.
He will now relaunch his career at a team where he will be under much less pressure.
“A new chapter in my racing career is opening,” Bottas said.
“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.”
Alfa Romeo team principal Frederic Vasseur knows Bottas well, having worked with him in the F3 and GP3 categories.
"The multi-year deal bringing him to us gives both Valtteri and the team the stability we need to build,” Vasseur said.
“We are excited for what the future holds in store.”
Russell has excelled for Williams in a much slower car, showing all his ability with a stunning second place in qualifying at the rain-drenched Belgian GP two races ago. He finished second in that shortened race.
He had been informed of his seat at Mercedes before that race, although he could not yet say so.
(AP)
