Valtteri Bottas feels the battle to return to the top table of Formula 1 is enough motivation after losing the "fun" of competing at the front. Bottas joined Alfa Romeo ahead of the 2022 season after a five-year spell with Mercedes in which he claimed 10 Grand Prix wins and 58 overall podiums as team-mate to Lewis Hamilton. Since his departure, the best the Finn has managed is fifth-place in the 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix as Alfa hit the ground running in the ground-effects era, although this was largely to do with the C42 machine being on the weight limit with others over. In 2023, Bottas has just six points to his name, with a season-best of eighth in the Bahrain opener and P10 finishes in Canada and Italy as Alfa has struggled. The sponsorship arrangement concludes at the end of 2023, with the team set to be return to being known as Sauber until 2026, when Audi is due to take over the Hinwil-based squad. While Bottas has lost the feeling of racing at the very front, he believes the challenge to get back up there serves as enough motivation.
Bottas's long-term goals
"For sure, I had to change many, many goals," Bottas explained to media including RacingNews365. "It is just not fun when you are not fighting for wins anymore, and it is definitely more fun when you are performing and up there. "That is how it goes and you enjoy it more, but for now, the goal is the long-term, and the motivation is to get back up there for wins and podiums some day. "That is the motivation and drive now, to work with a team and why I want to drive the best I can. "It is now longer-term and trying to see that light at the end of the tunnel and push for that, with all the exciting stuff that is happening to this team in the near future. "It's not been easy to adapt to the situation but on the other hand, we've accepted it now. "It is time to work hard and try to be innovative in designing and developing new things."
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