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Ahead of the Belgian GP this weekend, Valtteri Bottas believes he has not yet peaked as a driver in Formula 1. The Finn feels he has settled in well with his new team and its work environment, though. After switching from a frontrunner like Mercedes to a mid-table team like Alfa Romeo, the challenges of developing the car and environment have been different for Bottas.
In his maiden season with the Hinwil-based team, the Finn has settled into a new environment and acclimatised with his new car. From playing a subservient role at his previous team and performing at a high level, the Finnish driver is now a leader at the Swiss team. While he believes he has not reached the peak of his career, it will be interesting to see how he evolves at his new team.
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Speaking to The Race in Hungary, Bottas said:
“That is quite hard to measure, because obviously everything is new this year. But in terms of how I feel in the car, I feel really comfortable. I don’t think I’ve peaked yet as a driver. I think it’s individual and for me, it’s not yet so I’m still learning. That’s the beauty of the sport, if you still want to learn. I guess it also depends on the atmosphere and the surroundings and everything. For me, it works. And I really like this car and being able to really also set it up how I want. So that’s nice.”
Valtteri Bottas believes car set-up suits him more as lead driver
As the lead driver of the Alfa Romeo team, the advantage Valtteri Bottas has is that the car is built or tuned to suit him.
As the biggest influence in the development of the car, the Finn has played a central role in fine-tuning the car to meet the teams targets. The former Mercedes driver believes the new car should suit him and his driving style better by the day.
Explaining the set-ups and development of the car, the Alfa Romeo driver said:
“I feel like in the past quite often the set-up that would be the fastest in theory didn’t necessarily mean the nicest or easiest to drive, or suitable to driving style. Now I feel like, for me at least, it matches it a bit more. Already, the starting point of the set-up, which we think ideally in theory would be the best, already handles quite nicely. And then when we fine-tune it from there, then it becomes even better.”
While the Finnish driver is far from his days of claiming victories or podiums with Mercedes, he has proved to be a top lead driver for a midfield team like Alfa Romeo. In the drivers standings, Bottas is ninth, scoring 46 points for his team, who are sixth in the constructor’s championship.
