Wolff overjoyed with Bottas' "incredibly important" return to Mercedes
Mercedes F1 Media
F1 News
- Ludo van Denderen
Mercedes' most experienced driver next season will be Valtteri Bottas, but in principle, the Finn will not be in action. The German team announced on Thursday that the former vice-champion will take up the third driver role. Nevertheless, Toto Wolff, Mercedes' CEO and team boss, expects Bottas to be of great value to the racing stable.
In his first comments after the announcement of the comeback, Wolff directly addresses Bottas: "Welcome home, Valtteri! It's great to have you back." Then he goes on to address what the Finn has meant to the team in the past: "His impact and contribution in the five years he was with us previously as our race driver was immense. Along with scoring multiple Grands Prix wins, he played a vital role in five of our championship victories"
Wolff hoping that Bottas can contribute to a world title challenge
"His technical feedback and input were important in helping us to those successes and pushing the team forward. Not only that, but he was also a fantastic colleague and team member. His dry sense of humour and personable nature made him a firm favourite with everyone at Brackley and Brixworth," Wolff continued.
For next season, Wolff therefore has high hopes for Bottas. "In his role as Reserve Driver, all those qualities will be incredibly important in helping us compete for world championships and supporting both George [Russell] and Kimi [Antonelli] on track," Wolff concluded.
This article was written in collaboration with Olly Darcy
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