Bottas responds to rumours of him leaving F1 – “Had quite a long time to process things”

Valtteri Bottas rubbished the rumours of him leaving F1, saying that he never considered that option on a serious scale.

Bottas departed Mercedes after five years with the team, helping them win five Constructors’ Championships in a row. He will join Alfa Romeo at the start of the 2022 season.

The move almost guarantees that he won’t be fighting at the front of the grid, given his current team is not on Mercedes’ level of pace and development. Such a transfer may be questionable for many fans, but the 32-year-old insisted the passion he has for the sport shines above all else.

Bottas rubbished the rumours of him leaving F1, and assured that there was no credibility to any of them.

When asked by GP Fans if he had been having second thoughts about the move to Alfa Romeo, the Finn replied, “Yes, for sure, I know going from a team that like I said, going to a race knowing that you have a chance to win a race, it’s going to be different next year, realistically.

“Luckily, this change and with a new contract, nothing happened overnight, so I had actually quite a lot of time to process things and thinking about the difference in our roles.”

Bottas "never seriously considered leaving F1" despite Mercedes exit
Bottas (pictured) is excited for his Alfa Romeo stint. Source: gpfans.com

Well-thought out

“Of course, I also questioned myself, do I want this, or should I try doing something else?” he continued.

“That was also one option, but I never seriously considered leaving Formula 1 because deep inside me, I still love Formula 1 and the competition and many things about it.

“Again, referring to this something new and a long-term project, that’s the motivation for me, to try and help the team the best I can and I think it can be really rewarding if we achieve some good things.”

Read more: Ricciardo aims sly dig at Bottas while explaining radio message – “Didn’t want it to sound like ‘f*ck everyone!’”

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