Williamsf1 – The Fastest Sector

Bio:

Born in Nastola, Finland, in 1989, Valtteri Bottas has raced in Formula One since 2013. Racing in car number 77 for Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber, Bottas has had a rather tumultuous experience in Formula One thus far.

He began driving at a very early age, mostly on ice and snow in Finland, beginning karting at age six. He joined the Finnish National Karting team, which he was a member of for seven years, having gained a reputation in the karting scene in Finland as a race winner

History:

By 2007, Bottas was racing in single-seaters. He won three of five races in the Formula Renault UK Winter Series that year, missing out on winning the title due to complications with his racing license.

In 2008, he had another fruitful year, winning both the Formula Renault Cup and the Northern European Cup. These wins caught the attention of teams in other categories, gaining him a Formula Three seat for the following season with ART Grand Prix. He finished third.

While racing in the same championship the next year, he became the test driver for Williams Formula One team, a position he held for three consecutive years. He won the Formula Three title in 2011 while being test driver.

Bottas made his full Formula One debut in 2013, as a Williams driver. He finished fourth overall the following season. He stayed here until the 2017 season, at which point he moved to take over the Mercedes seat of Nico Rosberg, who had retired after winning the Driver’s Championship title the previous season.

Image Credit: aa.com

While at Mercedes, he was beaten by his teammate Lewis Hamilton for Driver’s Championship titles throughout his stint at the team. Commentators and journalists often accused the team of favouring Hamilton and sacrificing Bottas in the process. Despite this, Bottas continued to drive spectacularly, winning ten grand prix. This was not enough to satisfy Mercedes higher ups causing Bottas to move to Alfa Romeo Sauber (now Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber) on a multi year deal from 2022 onwards.

At Sauber, Bottas has not had the success that he did at Mercedes. Nevertheless, he has received praise for his mentoring of newcomer Zhou Guanyu. He put up a great fight in the midfield.

Image Credit: autoracing1.com

Current Performance:

Bottas has struggled this season. Sauber’s car is slow and usually not fast enough to bring the drivers to points finishes, regardless of Bottas’ skill. He currently has zero points in the Drivers’ Championship standings and holds 20th position, having not finished higher than thirteenth yet in a race this season.

Future:

Bottas’ future is unclear. His current contract expires at the end of this season. Although no official announcements have been made, Bottas has made it clear publicly that he wishes to stay with Sauber into 2026 and beyond (when the team shall be taken over by Audi). No other team has shown public interest in him as of yet. Rumours are circulating surrounding a potential move back to Williams to replace Logan Sargeant, however, these rumours have not been substantiated.

Written by Alexandra.

Featured Image Credit: @valtteribottas on Instagram.

THE BEST OF THE REST!

RedBull Racing and Mercedes are clear front runners when it comes to F1 with both teams being the only winners of the Constructors Championship since 2010! Ferrari have mounted a number of attempts to reclaim their top spot, but it has not been possible when faced with the technology and drivers of the RedBull and Mercedes cars. With the dominance of RedBull in the 2023 season it could be said that it was 2^nd place Mercedes who were “the best of the rest” but let’s first consider those further down the table!

Source: F1Chronical.com

In 2023 Aston Martin made a comeback through the first half of the season with driver Fernando Alonso putting them on the podium multiple times. It was clear the upgrades brought to the car through the second half of the season were not up to the same standard allowing McLaren to claw themselves back into the fight with Ferrari for third place.

There was a clear divide in 2023 between the top 5 in the Constructors Championship and the bottom 5 with 5^th place Aston Martin scoring 280 and 6^th place Alpine scoring 120. Alpine could be considered “the best of the rest” as they were consistently in the lower end of the points and began a good fight with Aston Martin towards the end of the season, it just came a bit too late!

Source: Goodwood.com

However, a strong contender for this title is Williams. Williams had a much better season in 2023 than they have had for a while with Alex Albon scoring 27 points landing himself 13^th in the Drivers’ Championship and securing 7^th place in the Constructors Championship. It is clear that Albon has huge potential as an F1 driver and would score even more consistently in a car that could keep up with him.

With Alfa Romeo rebranding themselves for the 2024 season as Stake F1 with new sponsorships it will be interesting to see if there is an elevation to the standard of the car. Despite having experienced point scorer Valtteri Bottas as a part of their team in 2023, the best they could achieve was 9^th in the Constructors Championship.

Source: MotorsportWeek.com

Overall, Alexander Albon’s hard work in the Williams takes the win for the 2023 season as he proved himself as a brilliant driver worthy of a place in a top team. It appears under the management of James Vowels and the driving of Albon, Williams have managed to break their downward streak and have started heading back up the tables of both the Drivers’ World Championship and the Constructors World Championship. We can only hope for move improvement from this historic team.

Who do you think will shine in 2024? Leave a comment below!

Written by Cesca.