Bottas had no say in teammate at Alfa Romeo: 'Did get updates'

Valtteri Bottas' new teammate at Alfa Romeo was announced on Tuesday. Guanyu Zhou will drive alongside the Finn next year, and Bottas, who was kept fully informed by his new team, is very happy about that.

With the announcement of Zhou, the Formula 1 grid for 2022 is complete. The second seat at Alfa Romeo was the only one left, but for a long time it seemed that this spot would go to the Chinese driver. Bottas, who was previously confirmed as the replacement for Kimi Raikkonen, is happy with his new teammate.

''I'm looking forward to working with him. I don't know him that well as a person, but of course I've seen him in the paddock with F2. He's been there for some years and has been very good especially this season. He's second in the championship, won some races and definitely knows how to drive. So the potential is definitely there,'' Bottas said according to Crash.net.

At the press conference, Bottas also revealed that he has been kept informed by his team in the meantime, but had no say himself. ''I was getting updates on how things were going and what was likely to happen. Before it was announced I already got the information'', concluded the driver who will drive the last three races in 2021 for Mercedes.