Valtteri Bottas

A ten-time grand prix-winner with Mercedes, Valtteri Bottas is one of the most charismatic members of the F1 paddock with an ever-changing hairstyle, a nude calendar and a self-deprecating TV ad. Now racing for the Sauber F1 team, he faces an uncertain future in 2025

2017 Russian GP, Valtteri bottas — Bottas won his first Grand Prix in 2017 in Sochi

Grand Prix Photo

Valtteri Bottas, 2013 Canadian GP — Bottas impressed in Canada, taking third in 2013 qualifying

Grand Prix Photo

Whether he’s sporting a new hairstyle — on his head or his face — starring in a comedy TV ad, or promoting a naked calendar, there’s rarely a dull moment with Valtteri Bottas in the F1 paddock, which is currently in contrast to his on-track performances.

The Finn impressed enough at Williams to secure a seat alongside Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, where he started on pole 20 times and won 10 races over the course of five seasons — occasionally having the better of Hamilton, but usually playing second fiddle as his team-mate raced to a series of titles.

Those days are long gone and Bottas now finds himself at the opposite end of the grid, biding his time with Sauber in the hope of a more competitive seat when the team transforms into Audi ahead of the 2026 season.

Karting and early career

A successful karting career included finishing eighth in the 2005 Formula A World Championship at Braga. He switched to Formula Renault 2.0 two years later when he was third in the Northern European Cup for Koiranen Bros Motorsport. His second season in the category was with Motopark Academy and the young Finn won the Eurocup (beating Daniel Ricciardo by just three points) and NEC titles thanks to 17 race wins.

Having reportedly turned down a place in Renault’s young driver scheme, he graduated to the Formula 3 Euroseries in 2009 with team of the moment ART Grand Prix and a Dallara F308-Mercedes-Benz. He qualified on pole position twice but victory in a championship round remained elusive – the rookie finishing second at the Lausitzring, Zandvoort, Oschersleben, Nürburgring, Brands Hatch and Hockenheim. An impressive third in the final points (as team-mate Jules Bianchi was crowned champion), he converted another pole position to win the non-championship Zandvoort Masters.

From the archive

Bottas started 2010 as the title favourite and repeated that Masters win to become the race’s first two-time winner. He also won at the Norisring and Oschersleben but third in the standings once more was something of a disappointment. He then switched from ART to Prema Powerteam to finish third in the end-of-season Macau GP. Bottas was already associated with Williams by now – working in its simulator during 2010.

GP3 title success and Formula 1 with Williams

Back with ART for the 2011 GP3 Series, Bottas recovered from a slow start to win races at the last four events to clinch the title with a round to spare. He also won a British F3 race at Donington on a one-off return to the category with Robertson Räikkönen Racing. The season ended with two days testing a Williams FW33-Cosworth at Abu Dhabi. That led to Bottas being named as Williams’ reserve driver for 2012 and he was its Friday test driver at 15 Grands Prix.

He was promoted to the race team in 2013 although the former champions were at a low ebb as it restructured its engineering team. Despite that, Bottas out-qualified more experienced team-mate Pastor Maldonado 11-8 (including starting an impressive third on the grid in Canada) and he finished eighth at Austin.

Fourth in the 2014 World Championship

The team was transformed in 2014 with Pat Symonds established as Chief Technical Officer, Mercedes-Benz engines powering the FW36 and Martini new title sponsors. Bottas responded by generally outperforming Ferrari refugee Felipe Massa as he finished an impressive fourth overall. He qualified on the front row and finished third in Austria before back-to-back second-place finishes at Silverstone and Hockenheim (from another front row start in Germany). Third again in Belgium, Russia and Abu Dhabi – Bottas appeared every inch a winner of the future.

Forced to miss the 2015 Australian GP with a back injury, Bottas returned two weeks later and was a regular in the top five both in qualifying and in the race – finishing third in Canada and Mexico. Another fine result was lost in Russia thanks to Kimi Räikkönen’s overly optimistic overtaking manoeuvre and Bottas slipped to fifth overall (behind his compatriot) by the end of the season.

There were mid-season rumours of a move to Ferrari in 2016 but Bottas remained with Williams for a fourth season. The Williams FW38-Mercedes was not as competitive as its predecessors and Bottas dropped to eighth in the championship as a consequence. He overshadowed Massa once more (especially in qualifying) and employed a one-stop strategy to finish third in Canada.

Race winner with Mercedes-Benz

That was enough to earn a contract to race for Mercedes-Benz when World Champion Nico Rosberg retired immediately after clinching the title. Bottas began his first season alongside Hamilton in impressive form and initially held his own. On pole for round three in Bahrain, he scored a popular breakthrough victory next time out at Sochi. Second in Canada and (narrowly) in Baku, he converted another pole position into victory in Austria despite Sebastian Vettel’s pressure.

On the podium for the next two races, Bottas suffered in comparison to his team-mate after the summer break. That said, he responded to a confidence-sapping run of races (although always top five at the finish) to qualify on pole in Brazil and win the Abu Dhabi finale.

Bottas finished third in the 2017 World Championship before enduring a difficult second season in Hamilton’s shadow. Victory in Azerbaijan and Russia was denied by a puncture and team orders respectively. Openly critical of his own performances, Bottas slipped to fifth in the final standings. He later revealed that he had considered retiring after the 2018 Russian GP when he was told to move aside for Hamilton, and suggested that he was being treated as a No2 driver, despite Mercedes denying that either driver was getting preferential treatment.

He began 2019 with renewed focus and vigour – Valtteri Bottas 2.0. He beat Hamilton at the opening race of the season in Australia and finished second at the next two races. Victory in the fourth round in Baku (from a second-successive pole position) restored the Finn to the head of the points table. He recorded another three pole positions and stood on the podium at 15 of the 21 GPs during 2019, but four-successive Hamilton victories proved crucial as the Englishman built a title-winning points lead. Bottas added further victories in Japan and the United States as he finished as runner-up behind the then six-time World Champion.

From the archive

2020 was no better despite once more taking the first race of the season in Austria. Hamilton recovered to dominate the following rounds, taking 11 victories to Bottas’s two. The Finn was retained for the 2021 season despite a strong showing by Mercedes junior George Russell who deputised for an ill Hamilton during the Sakhir Grand Prix. Russell pulled a great move on his temporary team-mate Bottas to take position in the closing stages, which proved to be an omen.

Bottas’s wane continued in a 2021 season that began late as a result of the Covid epidemic. In the second race of the season at Imola, he was once more fighting off Russell — now back in a Williams, which should have been no match for the Mercedes — and the pair collided after an aggressive move from the younger driver. Russell then jumped out of his car and slapped Bottas’s helmet, earning him a rebuke from Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff. It didn’t alter the future, however, and Bottas confirmed that he’d be leaving the team towards the end of the season, earning one final victory before vacating his seat for Russell.

New beginnings at Sauber

F1’s latest ‘Flying Finn’ found new life in 2022 after signing for the Alfa Romeo-branded Sauber team, despite suffering from numerous mechanical issues over the course of the season. Bottas was in touching distance of podium finishes early in the season, qualifying ahead of George Russell and just over three tenths of a second behind Lewis Hamilton. His one-lap pace was kept consistent on race day too, finishing inside the top ten in seven out of the first ten grands prix.

However, three consecutive retirements in Hungary, Belgium, and the Netherlands derailed any chance of a higher finish in the drivers’ standings, and Bottas eventually finished tenth with 49 points, considerably more than the six earned by rookie team-mate Zhou Guanyu.

Sauber’s decline

His first season with the team is currently the highlight of Bottas’s spell with Sauber. Its early success under the new 2022 regulations slipped away as better-funded teams developed their cars at a faster rate. A meagre ten-point haul was all he had to show for 2023, while Zhou once again scored six. Bare? Not as much as his ‘Bottass’ calendar for 2024 featuring the driver unclothed. Inspired by a 2022 Instagram picture that showed him swimming naked in a stream, the calendar $150,000 (£120,000) for the Movember charity appeal.

Bottas’s side projects were once more the highlight of 2024, as Sauber was rooted to the back of the grid, leaving its drivers almost powerless to compete for points. Ahead of the Australian Grand Prix, Bottas starred in a TV ad for Uber, showing off a car that he had supposedly designed with a large helping of self-deprecation.

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