Valtteri Bottas
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Valtteri Bottas (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈʋɑltːeɾi ˈbotːɑs]; born 28 August 1989) is a Finnish racing driver currently competing in Formula One with Williams Martini Racing. He currently resides in Monaco. His current best career achievement was in 2014 when he finished 4th in the Formula One World Championship.
Career
Junior formulae
Born in Nastola, Finland, Bottas finished eighth in the 2005 Karting World Cup for the P.D.B. Racing Team, using Gillard chassis and Parilla engines.
Bottas won both the 2008 Formula Renault Eurocup and the 2008 Formula Renault Northern European Cup. In doing so, he repeated the feat of Filipe Albuquerque, who won both the NEC and Eurocup in the same season, in 2006.
Bottas would have also won the 2007 Formula Renault UK Winter Series, had he been holding an MSA-registered licence for the championship. This did however not stop him from competing, and he won three out of the four races in the championship.
Formula Three
He moved up into the Formula Three Euroseries for the 2009 season, competing for reigning champions ART Grand Prix. Despite not winning a race, Bottas set two pole positions on his way to third in the championship, edging out Alexander Sims at the final race. In June 2009, Bottas won the 2009 Masters of Formula 3, also claiming the pole position and setting the fastest lap of the race. By winning the event again in 2010, he became the first driver to win the F3 Masters title for the second time.[3]
In 2010 Bottas was assigned test driver for the Williams Formula One team[4] and would continue as such for the 2011 and 2012 (where he took part in 15 Friday Free Practice sessions)[5] seasons, during which he also contested the GP3 Series, remaining with F3 squad ART.[6] After a tough start to the season, he claimed a win in each of the last four race weekends and secured the title by winning the penultimate race ahead of his team-mate James Calado.[7]
Formula One
2013
Bottas returned to racing in 2013, as he was confirmed as teammate to Pastor Maldonado at Williams for the 2013 season on 28 November 2012.[8] On 8 June 2013, Bottas qualified in 3rd position at the Canadian Grand Prix behind Sebastian Vettel (1st), and Lewis Hamilton (2nd).[9] He scored his first points finish at the United States Grand Prix by finishing 8th. This result allowed Bottas to finish ahead of Maldonado in the Drivers' Championship.
2014
On 11 November 2013 Bottas was confirmed to continue with Williams in 2014 alongside Felipe Massa, who was signed from Ferrari to replace Pastor Maldonado.[10] At the first race of the 2014 season in Australia, Bottas qualified 10th and finished 6th, after recovering from a crash earlier in the race. He was later promoted to 5th after Daniel Ricciardo was disqualified from 2nd position.[11] At the Austrian Grand Prix, Bottas qualified 2nd, his best grid position in Formula One, and achieved his first podium in the sport, finishing third behind Nico Rosberg (1st) and Lewis Hamilton (2nd).[12] Despite qualifying 14th on the grid at the British Grand Prix, Bottas charged through the field to finish second, following Rosberg's retirement from the race, thereby achieving his second consecutive career podium. At the German Grand Prix, he qualified second and ended the race in the same position despite a late challenge from Hamilton. After achieving three more podiums in Belgium, Russia (where he set his first fastest lap of a race) and Abu Dhabi (part of Williams' first double podium since the 2005 Monaco Grand Prix), Bottas finished 4th overall in the championship, beating the likes of former world champions Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso.
2015
In September 2014, it was announced that Bottas and Massa would retain their drives with Williams for the 2015 season.[13] At the opening race of the season in Australia, Bottas qualified sixth for the race, but injured his back during qualifying. He was taken to The Alfred Hospital for precautionary checks,[14] where he was diagnosed with soft tissue damage to his lower back, and was not medically cleared to race.[15] Both Bottas' and Williams' season didn't live up to their hopes. Williams lost out in the development war to Ferrari over the winter and slipped further behind Mercedes. Bottas achieved two podium finishes across the 2015 season. The first of which came at the Canadian Grand Prix when Kimi Räikönen's Ferrari experienced an engine mapping issue resulting in him spinning, leaving an easy podium opportunity for the Williams driver. The second podium of the season came in Mexico behind the Mercedes duo. Two races earlier, Bottas was on course to finish third in Russia before Räikkönen collided with him while trying overtake on the final lap of the race. Sergio Pérez was rewarded with the podium, while Räikkönen was penalised, dropping him to 8th and Bottas retired. Bottas finished fifth in the Drivers' Championship beating his experienced team mate Felipe Massa for the second consecutive year.[16]
Personal life
On 11 September 2016 Bottas married his girlfriend Emilia Pikkarainen whom he has been dating since 2010. Emilia is also from Finland and an Olympic swimmer. The couple were married at St. John's Church, Helsinki (Finland).[17]
Racing record
Career summary
† – As Bottas was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.
Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | ART Grand Prix | Dallara F308/009 | Mercedes | HOC 1 Ret |
HOC 2 16 |
LAU 1 2 |
LAU 2 13 |
NOR 1 12 |
NOR 2 Ret |
ZAN 1 2 |
ZAN 2 6 |
OSC 1 2 |
OSC 2 8 |
NÜR 1 2 |
NÜR 2 4 |
BRH 1 2 |
BRH 2 15 |
CAT 1 4 |
CAT 2 6 |
DIJ 1 16 |
DIJ 2 Ret |
HOC 1 2 |
HOC 2 5 |
3rd | 62 |
| 2010 | ART Grand Prix | Dallara F308/026 | Mercedes | LEC 1 9 |
LEC 2 6 |
HOC 1 3 |
HOC 2 5 |
VAL 1 2 |
VAL 2 4 |
NOR 1 3 |
NOR 2 1 |
NÜR 1 6 |
NÜR 2 7 |
ZAN 1 2 |
ZAN 2 Ret |
BRH 1 4 |
BRH 2 4 |
OSC 1 1 |
OSC 2 11† |
HOC 1 2 |
HOC 2 3 |
3rd | 74 |
† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.
Complete GP3 Series results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Lotus ART | IST FEA 4 |
IST SPR 8 |
CAT FEA 10 |
CAT SPR 7 |
VAL FEA 7 |
VAL SPR 3 |
SIL FEA 15 |
SIL SPR 12 |
NÜR FEA 3 |
NÜR SPR 1 |
HUN FEA 1 |
HUN SPR 2 |
SPA FEA 1 |
SPA SPR 19 |
MNZ FEA 1 |
MNZ SPR 17 |
1st | 62 |
Complete Formula One results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicates fastest lap)
† Driver failed to finish the race, but was classified as they had completed more than 90% of the race distance.
References
- ↑ "Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas staying at Williams for 2016 season". 3 September 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
- ↑ "Williams confirms driver line-up for the 2017 season". Williams Grand Prix Engineering. 3 November 2016. Archived from the original on 3 November 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
- ↑ "Bottas makes history at Zandvoort Masters". Motorsport.com. 6 June 2010. Retrieved 6 June 2010.
- ↑ Beer, Matt (29 January 2010). "Williams signs Bottas as test driver". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 29 January 2010.
- ↑ "Pastor Maldonado Confirmed for 2012 with Valtteri Bottas as Reserve Driver". WilliamsF1. 1 December 2011. Archived from the original on December 3, 2011. Retrieved 1 December 2011.
- ↑ "Bottas lands Lotus ART seat for 2011". MotorsTV.com. 23 November 2010. Archived from the original on March 5, 2012. Retrieved 23 November 2010.
- ↑ "Champion win for Bottas in Monza". GP3 Series. 10 September 2011. Archived from the original on September 26, 2011.
- ↑ Elizalde, Pablo (28 November 2012). "Williams confirms Valtteri Bottas and Pastor Maldonado for 2013". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
- ↑ Beer, Matt (8 June 2013). "Canadian GP: Vettel claims pole in rain-hit session". Autosport.com. Haymarket. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
- ↑ Benson, Andrew (11 November 2013). "Felipe Massa joins Williams for 2014 to replace Pastor Maldonado". bbc.co.uk. BBC. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
- ↑ Weaver, Paul (16 March 2014). "Daniel Ricciardo disqualified from Australia GP". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
- ↑ "Valtteri Bottas claims first ever podium finish in Austria". 22 June 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ↑ Benson, Andrew (7 September 2014). "Felipe Massa & Valtteri Bottas to stay at Williams". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
- ↑ "Valtteri Bottas in hospital with back pain after F1 qualification". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 14 March 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
- ↑ "Bottas declared unfit to race in Australian GP". Williams Grand Prix Engineering. Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited. 15 March 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
- ↑ "2015 Driver Standings". Formula 1® - The Official F1® Website. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
- ↑ "Valtteri Bottas gets married in Helsinki". thisisf1.com. 12 September 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Valtteri Bottas. |
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Frank Kechele |
Formula Renault 2.0 NEC Champion 2008 |
Succeeded by António Félix da Costa |
| Preceded by Brendon Hartley |
Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Champion 2008 |
Succeeded by Albert Costa |
| Preceded by Jules Bianchi |
Formula Three Masters Winner 2009–2010 |
Succeeded by Felix Rosenqvist |
| Preceded by Esteban Gutiérrez |
GP3 Series Champion 2011 |
Succeeded by Mitch Evans |
