The Formula 1 left Argentina 24 years ago. The passion of the steelmakers, however, does not end in not competing in a Grand Prix since 1998. But in the last few hours it has strengthened when it became known that the pilot Valtteri Bottas has chosen the country to spend the week off between races in Mexico and Brazil this season.
When the GP ended at Autodrome Hermanos Rodríguez, Bottas and his partner, the Australian professional cyclist tiffany cromwelltook a plane from an uncertain destination, which was made public on their social networks: mendoza.
“I’m here for Malbec. And the views “the Finn wrote on his Instagram account after making it known in his stories that he was in Argentina.
His followers soon realized that those first mysterious images had been taken in Winery of Tenuta Pulenta.
There, earlier this week, Bottas and Cromwell had a private tasting. According to Eduardo Pulentathe owner of the vineyard, the pilot of Alfa Romeo you booked several hours before your arrival and asked for privacy during your stay.
The first contact with the winery founded in 2002 and located in Luján de Cuyo With whom he was Lewis Hamilton’s partner in Mercedes until 2021, it took place in England with a representative of the brand.
In addition to taking a tour of the facilities, the couple tasted some products and then left to continue in tourist mode through various corners of the province.
As both posted on their Instagram accounts, they took advantage of Mendoza’s great views before flying to Buenos Aires this Thursday. In the city of Buenos Aires, fans went looking for him and it didn’t take long to find him in Recoleta.
Although it is unknown how long he will spend in the capital, it will certainly be where he leaves for Sao Paulo for the Brazilian Grand Prix, which will be held on Sunday 13th at Interlagos.
The rider who had to adapt to being number 2 and is now number 1
Born 33 years ago in Nastolathe place he always returns to, which is reflected in his introverted and tough character and where he is the majority shareholder of an ice hockey team, the man who learned to drive on ice and snow and started karting at the age of 6. he got used to being Mercedes’ number 2 driver.
the Austrian toto wolffforeman at Mercedeshe was, coincidentally, the one who recruited Bottas and became his manager in 2009, after a third place in the F3 championship won by Jules Bianchi – who five years later would have suffered the accident at the Japanese GP that would have left him deadly consequences -, and also those who supported George Russell’s career, to whom he finally gave Bottas the Mercedes seat this year after starting at Williams.
Present in Formula 1 since 2012when he ruled out racing in GP2 to become Williams’ test driver, the Finn was rewarded when the iconic British team announced his hiring on 28 November 2012 as a partner to Pastor Maldonado to replace Bruno Senna.
Although he only managed to score points in the United States (8th), it was enough for him to finish ahead of Maldonado, who left the team and was replaced in 2014 by Massa. The Brazilian, who had spent eight years at Ferrari, had a great opportunity ahead of him to be the leader of a team. But Bottas added 186 points (one retirement and one race without points) and took 52 from his new teammate. Even if he hasn’t scored many points yet, he always beat Massa in the internal battle until the unexpected retirement of champion Nico Rosberg opened the doors of Mercedes to him.
After trying 81 times, on 30 April 2017 he won his first Formula 1 race and he felt that the dream of being a world champion could come true now that he was racing with the champion team. Despite Wolff’s support, the press mistreated him for finishing third 58 points behind Hamilton and even worse was the criticism when a year later he walked 157 away from an unstoppable Lewis and Sebastian Vettel who always escorted him. .
But then something even more serious happened to Bottas: an order from the team that felt like a stab. “Sochi 2018 was a pretty tough race. It was a tough thing to accept. I was very angry. Honestly, I was thinking, ‘Why am I doing this?’ I also thought about giving upin giving up After the race, I said I would never do it again “., he confessed. What he wouldn’t repeat would be allowing Hamilton to overtake in a race that he comfortably dominated but that his team-mate needed to win to reach the title.
“In the team, even if many would not admit it, perhaps subconsciously they have a number one and a number two. Sometimes the team members must have wondered: “Do we treat Lewis and Valtteri the same?”“he asked in F1’s Netflix documentary, Drive to Survive, without revealing if he had ever chatted behind closed doors.
With Ferrari on the ground and Red Bull swapping drivers with Toro Rosso mid-season, Bottas only needed three wins – which also prompted his renewal – to be second to Hamilton in 2019.
However, rumors of a possible estrangement have cornered him since 2020 and at the end of last year he left Mercedes to go to Alfa Romeo, where he is the number 1 driver even if I’m in a car that no longer fights in front.
Bottas photo album in Mendoza
Source: Clarin
