Vasseur on contact with Bottas: 'Not just because we drive together'

Valtteri Bottas will make the switch from Mercedes to Alfa Romeo in 2022. Something Alfa Romeo team boss Frederic Vasseur is only too happy about. He thinks the Finn will provide 'positive energy' in his team.

Bottas replaces Raikkonen

With Kimi Raikkonen hanging up his helmet, Alfa Romeo had to look for a new experienced driver. The search ended with Bottas, who will be replaced by George Russell at Mercedes. With ten victories and twenty pole positions, Alfa Romeo has brought in a true veteran. Bottas will become the team leader at Alfa Romeo and will have rookie Guanyu Zhou as his teammate.

Vasseur expects Bottas to bring positive energy to the team. "We are in contact very often, it's not just about the fact that we drive together, but we had contact for the last twelve or fourteen years," Vasseur reveals at Crash.net.

Out of the shadow of Hamilton

The French team boss has great confidence in Bottas and says the 32-year-old driver will definitely perform at Alfa Romeo. Bottas will no longer be in the shadow of Lewis Hamilton in 2022 and Vasseur says the Finn is a key pillar for Alfa Romeo's performance.