Bottas was Hamilton’s♛ teammate between 2017 and ▨2021, with the team remaining unbeaten in the F1 constructors’ championship.

Hamilton won four of the five drivers’ titles in that period, while Bottas finished a distant runꦫner-up on ဣtwo occasions.

The Finn was unable to mount a serious title challenge in either year Mercedes were dominant - 2019 or 2020, and in the other years, he was forced to aid Hamilton’s title bids against 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Sebastian Vettel and 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Max Verstappen.

Bottas was ultimately replaced by168澳洲5最新开奖结果: George Russell for 2022, although Mercedes did wait to ensure the Finn coul♌d find his drive at Alfa Rome♏o.

Reflecting on his time at Mercedes, Bottas conceded that ac🔯cepting Hamilton was simply the ꦐbetter driver was “hard to accept.”

"For such a 𓆉compe✅titive nature, it was hard to accept,” he told Finnish journalist Maria Veitola "It was only in the last year [2021] that I could accept that Lewis Hamilton was a better driver.

"I always wondered how I🤪 could b🎶eat him and win the world championship. 

"It was quite an exhausting fi🏅ve years. I wanted to win everything right away, and then whe൩n it didn't happen, it was hard to accept."

Bottas enters his second year at Alfa Romeo alongside 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Zhou Guanyu in F1 2023.

Alfa Romeo enjoyed their best finish since 2012 (as🍰ℱ Sauber) after they finished sixth in the constructors’ championship ahead of Aston Martin.

While Alfa Romeo started 2022 strongly with regular points finishes, a lack of development combined with poor reliability me♔ant they slipped back as the season progressed.

Looking ahead to the new season, 🎃Bottas explained his and the team’s ambitions.

“I had a goﷺod break, which is important, because now as we start getting to the season, then we go pretty much full gas until the end of the year, so like, the mental reset and physical reset is important, so I’m full of energy and keen to go,” he said.

“We need to achieve more, it’s simple as that, we always need to aim for better, aim for higher, the whole team, and myself included. We always need to keep improving, that’s what drives us, so, expecting... better consistency, more points, better results – but how to get there, that’s the tricky bit. That comes from all the details and working r🃏eally, really hard together as a team.”