Valtteri Bottas

Valtteri Bottas

Born (1989-08-28) 28 August 1989
Nastola, Finland
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality Finland Finnish
2016 team Williams-Mercedes[1]
2017 team Williams-Mercedes[2]
Car number 77
Entries 78 (77 starts)
Championships 0
Wins 0
Podiums 9
Career points 411
Pole positions 0
Fastest laps 1
First entry 2013 Australian Grand Prix
Last entry 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
2016 position 8th (85 pts)
Previous series
2012
2011
200910
2009, 2011
2008
200708
2007
Formula One testing
GP3 Series
Formula 3 Euro Series
British Formula 3
Formula Renault Eurocup
Formula Renault NEC
FRUK Winter Series
Championship titles
2011
2008
2008
GP3 Series
Formula Renault Eurocup
Formula Renault 2.0 NEC

Valtteri Bottas (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈʋɑltːeɾi ˈbotːɑs]; born 28 August 1989) is a Finnish racing driver currently competing in Formula One with Williams Martini Racing. He currently resides in Monaco. His current best career achievement was in 2014 when he finished 4th in the Formula One World Championship.

Career

Junior formulae

Born in Nastola, Finland, Bottas finished eighth in the 2005 Karting World Cup for the P.D.B. Racing Team, using Gillard chassis and Parilla engines.

Bottas competing at the second round of the 2010 Formula 3 Euro Series at Hockenheim.

Bottas won both the 2008 Formula Renault Eurocup and the 2008 Formula Renault Northern European Cup. In doing so, he repeated the feat of Filipe Albuquerque, who won both the NEC and Eurocup in the same season, in 2006.

Bottas would have also won the 2007 Formula Renault UK Winter Series, had he been holding an MSA-registered licence for the championship. This did however not stop him from competing, and he won three out of the four races in the championship.

Formula Three

He moved up into the Formula Three Euroseries for the 2009 season, competing for reigning champions ART Grand Prix. Despite not winning a race, Bottas set two pole positions on his way to third in the championship, edging out Alexander Sims at the final race. In June 2009, Bottas won the 2009 Masters of Formula 3, also claiming the pole position and setting the fastest lap of the race. By winning the event again in 2010, he became the first driver to win the F3 Masters title for the second time.[3]

In 2010 Bottas was assigned test driver for the Williams Formula One team[4] and would continue as such for the 2011 and 2012 (where he took part in 15 Friday Free Practice sessions)[5] seasons, during which he also contested the GP3 Series, remaining with F3 squad ART.[6] After a tough start to the season, he claimed a win in each of the last four race weekends and secured the title by winning the penultimate race ahead of his team-mate James Calado.[7]

Formula One

2013

Bottas during practice at the 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix.

Bottas returned to racing in 2013, as he was confirmed as teammate to Pastor Maldonado at Williams for the 2013 season on 28 November 2012.[8] On 8 June 2013, Bottas qualified in 3rd position at the Canadian Grand Prix behind Sebastian Vettel (1st), and Lewis Hamilton (2nd).[9] He scored his first points finish at the United States Grand Prix by finishing 8th. This result allowed Bottas to finish ahead of Maldonado in the Drivers' Championship.

2014

On 11 November 2013 Bottas was confirmed to continue with Williams in 2014 alongside Felipe Massa, who was signed from Ferrari to replace Pastor Maldonado.[10] At the first race of the 2014 season in Australia, Bottas qualified 10th and finished 6th, after recovering from a crash earlier in the race. He was later promoted to 5th after Daniel Ricciardo was disqualified from 2nd position.[11] At the Austrian Grand Prix, Bottas qualified 2nd, his best grid position in Formula One, and achieved his first podium in the sport, finishing third behind Nico Rosberg (1st) and Lewis Hamilton (2nd).[12] Despite qualifying 14th on the grid at the British Grand Prix, Bottas charged through the field to finish second, following Rosberg's retirement from the race, thereby achieving his second consecutive career podium. At the German Grand Prix, he qualified second and ended the race in the same position despite a late challenge from Hamilton. After achieving three more podiums in Belgium, Russia (where he set his first fastest lap of a race) and Abu Dhabi (part of Williams' first double podium since the 2005 Monaco Grand Prix), Bottas finished 4th overall in the championship, beating the likes of former world champions Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso.

2015

Bottas at the 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix

In September 2014, it was announced that Bottas and Massa would retain their drives with Williams for the 2015 season.[13] At the opening race of the season in Australia, Bottas qualified sixth for the race, but injured his back during qualifying. He was taken to The Alfred Hospital for precautionary checks,[14] where he was diagnosed with soft tissue damage to his lower back, and was not medically cleared to race.[15] Both Bottas' and Williams' season didn't live up to their hopes. Williams lost out in the development war to Ferrari over the winter and slipped further behind Mercedes. Bottas achieved two podium finishes across the 2015 season. The first of which came at the Canadian Grand Prix when Kimi Räikönen's Ferrari experienced an engine mapping issue resulting in him spinning, leaving an easy podium opportunity for the Williams driver. The second podium of the season came in Mexico behind the Mercedes duo. Two races earlier, Bottas was on course to finish third in Russia before Räikkönen collided with him while trying overtake on the final lap of the race. Sergio Pérez was rewarded with the podium, while Räikkönen was penalised, dropping him to 8th and Bottas retired. Bottas finished fifth in the Drivers' Championship beating his experienced team mate Felipe Massa for the second consecutive year.[16]

Personal life

On 11 September 2016 Bottas married his girlfriend Emilia Pikkarainen whom he has been dating since 2010. Emilia is also from Finland and an Olympic swimmer. The couple were married at St. John's Church, Helsinki (Finland).[17]

Racing record

Career summary

Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2007 Formula Renault 2.0 NEC Koiranen Bros. Motorsport 16 2 2 3 6 279 3rd
Formula Renault 2.0 UK Winter Series AKA Cobra 4 3 0 1 4 0 NC†
2008 Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup Motopark Academy 14 5 7 4 10 139 1st
Formula Renault 2.0 NEC 14 12 13 12 12 365 1st
2009 Formula 3 Euro Series ART Grand Prix 20 0 2 1 6 62 3rd
British Formula 3 Championship 4 0 0 0 1 N/A NC†
Masters of Formula 3 1 1 1 1 1 N/A 1st
Macau Grand Prix 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 5th
2010 Formula 3 Euro Series ART Grand Prix 18 2 1 4 8 74 3rd
Masters of Formula 3 1 1 0 0 1 N/A 1st
Macau Grand Prix Prema Powerteam 1 0 0 0 1 N/A 3rd
Formula One AT&T Williams Test driver
2011 GP3 Series Lotus ART 16 4 1 3 7 62 1st
British Formula 3 Championship Double R 3 1 0 1 1 17 17th
Macau Grand Prix 1 0 0 0 0 N/A NC
Formula One AT&T Williams Test driver
2012 Formula One Williams F1 Team Test driver
2013 Formula One Williams F1 Team 19 0 0 0 0 4 17th
2014 Formula One Williams Martini Racing 19 0 0 1 6 186 4th
2015 Formula One Williams Martini Racing 19 0 0 0 2 136 5th
2016 Formula One Williams Martini Racing 21 0 0 0 1 85 8th

 – As Bottas was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.

Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 DC Points
2009 ART Grand Prix Dallara F308/009 Mercedes HOC
1

Ret
HOC
2

16
LAU
1

2
LAU
2

13
NOR
1

12
NOR
2

Ret
ZAN
1

2
ZAN
2

6
OSC
1

2
OSC
2

8
NÜR
1

2
NÜR
2

4
BRH
1

2
BRH
2

15
CAT
1

4
CAT
2

6
DIJ
1

16
DIJ
2

Ret
HOC
1

2
HOC
2

5
3rd 62
2010 ART Grand Prix Dallara F308/026 Mercedes LEC
1

9
LEC
2

6
HOC
1

3
HOC
2

5
VAL
1

2
VAL
2

4
NOR
1

3
NOR
2

1
NÜR
1

6
NÜR
2

7
ZAN
1

2
ZAN
2

Ret
BRH
1

4
BRH
2

4
OSC
1

1
OSC
2

11†
HOC
1

2
HOC
2

3
3rd 74

Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

Complete GP3 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 DC Points
2011 Lotus ART IST
FEA

4
IST
SPR

8
CAT
FEA

10
CAT
SPR

7
VAL
FEA

7
VAL
SPR

3
SIL
FEA

15
SIL
SPR

12
NÜR
FEA

3
NÜR
SPR

1
HUN
FEA

1
HUN
SPR

2
SPA
FEA

1
SPA
SPR

19
MNZ
FEA

1
MNZ
SPR

17
1st 62

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicates fastest lap)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 WDC Points
2012 Williams F1 Team Williams FW34 Renault RS27-2012 2.4 V8 AUS MAL
TD
CHN
TD
BHR
TD
ESP
TD
MON CAN EUR
TD
GBR
TD
GER
TD
HUN
TD
BEL
TD
ITA
TD
SIN JPN
TD
KOR
TD
IND
TD
ABU
TD
USA BRA
TD
   
2013 Williams F1 Team Williams FW35 Renault RS27-2013 2.4 V8 AUS
14
MAL
11
CHN
13
BHR
14
ESP
16
MON
12
CAN
14
GBR
12
GER
16
HUN
Ret
BEL
15
ITA
15
SIN
13
KOR
12
JPN
17
IND
16
ABU
15
USA
8
BRA
Ret
17th 4
2014 Williams Martini Racing Williams FW36 Mercedes PU106A Hybrid 1.6 V6 t AUS
5
MAL
8
BHR
8
CHN
7
ESP
5
MON
Ret
CAN
7
AUT
3
GBR
2
GER
2
HUN
8
BEL
3
ITA
4
SIN
11
JPN
6
RUS
3
USA
5
BRA
10
ABU
3
4th 186
2015 Williams Martini Racing Williams FW37 Mercedes PU106B Hybrid 1.6 V6 t AUS
DNS
MAL
5
CHN
6
BHR
4
ESP
4
MON
14
CAN
3
AUT
5
GBR
5
HUN
13
BEL
9
ITA
4
SIN
5
JPN
5
RUS
12
USA
Ret
MEX
3
BRA
5
ABU
13
5th 136
2016 Williams Martini Racing Williams FW38 Mercedes PU106C Hybrid 1.6 V6 t AUS
8
BHR
9
CHN
10
RUS
4
ESP
5
MON
12
CAN
3
EUR
6
AUT
9
GBR
14
HUN
9
GER
9
BEL
8
ITA
6
SIN
Ret
MAL
5
JPN
10
USA
16
MEX
8
BRA
11
ABU
Ret
8th 85

Driver failed to finish the race, but was classified as they had completed more than 90% of the race distance.

References

  1. "Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas staying at Williams for 2016 season". 3 September 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  2. "Williams confirms driver line-up for the 2017 season". Williams Grand Prix Engineering. 3 November 2016. Archived from the original on 3 November 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  3. "Bottas makes history at Zandvoort Masters". Motorsport.com. 6 June 2010. Retrieved 6 June 2010.
  4. Beer, Matt (29 January 2010). "Williams signs Bottas as test driver". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 29 January 2010.
  5. "Pastor Maldonado Confirmed for 2012 with Valtteri Bottas as Reserve Driver". WilliamsF1. 1 December 2011. Archived from the original on December 3, 2011. Retrieved 1 December 2011.
  6. "Bottas lands Lotus ART seat for 2011". MotorsTV.com. 23 November 2010. Archived from the original on March 5, 2012. Retrieved 23 November 2010.
  7. "Champion win for Bottas in Monza". GP3 Series. 10 September 2011. Archived from the original on September 26, 2011.
  8. Elizalde, Pablo (28 November 2012). "Williams confirms Valtteri Bottas and Pastor Maldonado for 2013". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
  9. Beer, Matt (8 June 2013). "Canadian GP: Vettel claims pole in rain-hit session". Autosport.com. Haymarket. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  10. Benson, Andrew (11 November 2013). "Felipe Massa joins Williams for 2014 to replace Pastor Maldonado". bbc.co.uk. BBC. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  11. Weaver, Paul (16 March 2014). "Daniel Ricciardo disqualified from Australia GP". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  12. "Valtteri Bottas claims first ever podium finish in Austria". 22 June 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  13. Benson, Andrew (7 September 2014). "Felipe Massa & Valtteri Bottas to stay at Williams". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  14. "Valtteri Bottas in hospital with back pain after F1 qualification". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 14 March 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  15. "Bottas declared unfit to race in Australian GP". Williams Grand Prix Engineering. Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited. 15 March 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  16. "2015 Driver Standings". Formula 1® - The Official F1® Website. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
  17. "Valtteri Bottas gets married in Helsinki". thisisf1.com. 12 September 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Valtteri Bottas.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Frank Kechele
Formula Renault 2.0 NEC
Champion

2008
Succeeded by
António Félix da Costa
Preceded by
Brendon Hartley
Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0
Champion

2008
Succeeded by
Albert Costa
Preceded by
Jules Bianchi
Formula Three Masters
Winner

20092010
Succeeded by
Felix Rosenqvist
Preceded by
Esteban Gutiérrez
GP3 Series
Champion

2011
Succeeded by
Mitch Evans
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