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Valtteri Bottas is loving life as Alfa Romeo's lead man after five years in Lewis Hamilton's shadow at Mercedes.
The Finn feels he can now be the best version of himself and set the car up according to his driving style as opposed to trying to adapt to his teammate's style with the Silver Arrows.
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Speaking at a pre-race press conference before the 2022 F1 Monaco GP, Valtteri Bottas touched on his season thus far, saying:
“I think it’s been a good, good start to the season, like the qualifying and race performances, you know, I’ve been in a happy place, in a way that you know, I can really try and be the best version of myself and drive the way I want to drive. But like I said earlier, the atmosphere in the team is so motivating, like, you know, the people, how much they’re now trying and it’s really inspiring for me as well. And, you know, maybe that pushes you to even more but yeah, it’s been a good start to the season.”
The Finn, however, also admitted there was still room for improvement with the Alfa Romeo C42. The 10-time GP winner went on to add, saying:
“Obviously, things still are there that need to be better. We are still working on the race starts, which haven’t been great. We’re still working on the high-speed stability with the car, so that’s not the limit for us, there’s more to come, but on a personal level. It’s been good, but always can be better.”
Valtteri Bottas impressed with Alfa Romeo's progress after P6 finish at 2022 F1 Spanish GP
Valtteri Bottas felt Alfa Romeo had plenty of positives to take away from their performance at last week's Spanish GP.
The Finn managed to qualify in P7 with his Alfa Romeo C42 before crossing the line in P6. Considering the team's struggles at the same venue during pre-season testing in late February, this appeared to be a big step for them, according to Bottas.
Following the race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, he said:
“We got some good points today and we take plenty of positives home. Our pace throughout the race was really strong and it was nice to be in battles with the big teams ahead – it shows how much progress we are doing and how the upgrades we brought here seem to work well.”
The 32-year-old remains optimistic about his team's chances at this weekend's Monaco GP. Bottas has been in the top-10 in each race he has finished this season and is currently P8 in the World Drivers' Championship with 38 points.
