final drive - Mundo Motorizado

A READY ROOKIE
BOTTAS
One of the highlights of the 2013 Formula 1 season should be the arrival of Valtteri Bottas on the grid.
EDD STRAW spoke to him and found the latest flying Finn is ready to make a big impression with Williams
Pick one word to describe
23-year-old Valtteri Bottas
on the eve of his rookie
season as a grand prix
driver with Williams, and it
would be, quite simply, ‘ready’.
The Finn is a calm, composed,
unexcitable character who recognises
that the time is right for him to step
up into the big league, but accepts
there is much still to be learned.
Believing you’ve made it as a driver
once you land a Formula 1 seat is a
potentially crucial error, and it’s not
one that Bottas is foolish enough
to make. He recognises that his
toughest tests are to come.
Most pressing among those is
pre-season testing. Bottas has not far
off 3000 miles of serious running in
an F1 car under his belt already, much
of it in last year’s Williams FW34.
Since being picked up as junior driver
by the Grove squad as the successor
to newly-promoted race driver Nico
Hulkenberg in 2012, Bottas has been
groomed for his graduation. His CV
is impressive: it lacks race action at
a higher level than Formula 3/GP3,
but is partly counterbalanced by 15
outings in Bruno Senna’s car during
Friday-morning practice in 2012.
The race team knows him well, he’s a
familiar face around the factory and he
34 autosport.com January 31 2013
has already proved he has the pace to
cut it in the most illustrious company.
Expectations are, rightly, high.
“I’ve got the most preparation
compared to any driver at my age
because, while some teams have done
Friday practice with their [reserve]
drivers, it’s not as many as 15,” says
Bottas. “That was a big commitment
from the team as well, so I feel really
prepared after three years with them.
“I’m really comfortable with how
the team works, but there is always
more you can learn. I will double the
number of test days I have so far
in F1 cars in winter testing. That’s
quite a lot and I need to make the
most out of it to improve my tyre
management and driving style.”
Judging the success of Bottas
in 2013 will be relatively simple.
Regardless of where the new Renaultengined
FW35 ends up in the pecking
order (and there’s no reason to expect
it will be anything other than as good
as, or better, than the car that arguably
should have finished fifth in last year’s
constructors’ championship), Bottas
has team-mate Pastor Maldonado as a
yardstick. Whatever you say about the
Venezuelan, there is no doubt that he
is seriously quick. If the newcomer
can perform at a similar level – or
better – than the 2012 Spanish Grand
BOTTAS CV
2012 F1 Friday
driver for Williams
2011 1st in GP3 (4
wins), 1 British F3
win in one-of
appearance
2010 3rd in F3 Euro
Series (2 wins), 1st
in F3 Masters, 3rd
in Macau GP
2009 3rd in F3
Euro Series, 1st in
F3 Masters, 5th
in Macau GP
2008 1st in Formula
Renault Eurocup
(5 wins), 1st in
Formula Renault
NEC (12 wins)
2007 3rd in
Formula Renault
NEC (2 wins); three
wins in FRenault UK
Winter Series
Prix winner, it will be a tremendous
endorsement of his potential.
Don’t doubt that Bottas, privately,
fancies his chances. In many ways,
Maldonado is the perfect team-mate if
you want to make an impression. For
starters, he’s quick enough to ensure
that beating, matching or even getting
close to him early on constitutes a job
very well done. Maldonado is also
a driver capable of following up a
stunning victory with a nine-race
pointless run punctuated with many
mishaps, so outscoring him is
eminently possible. The smart money
is on Bottas showing very well indeed
compared to his team-mate, especially
given many at Williams believe that
Friday practice last year often showed
him to be the quicker of the two.
“I would hope to be with him
straight away, but I’m fully aware
that he’s a really quick driver,” says
Bottas, again confident, but not
underestimating the challenge.
“He’s had some impressive races and
some really impressive qualifying
performances. Some of the laps he’s
put together have been really nice to
watch. He’s a good reference, so I really
hope I can match him immediately. It’s
not just a team of one driver – it’s a
team of two drivers and two cars.”
That last point is crucial: Williams