Valtteri Bottas recently landed a seat at Alfa Romeo Racing after being left out of the Mercedes F1 squad in late-2021. Of course, one would acknowledge that it’s a downgrade for the Finnish driver after having spent five years at what was the most successful team of the hybrid era.

Quite interestingly, Bottas is still one of the drivers in demand at the moment despite his bitter-sweet stint with the Silver Arrows. Turns out, a lot of teams were eyeing Bottas before Alfa Romeo made their move; Bottas himself confessed to this during a podcast.

Bottas was indeed a valuable asset to Mercedes as he played a part in all of Lewis Hamilton’s world championship title wins between 2017 and 2020. The 32-year-old spent most of his time portraying himself as the Briton’s wingman, but only out of obligation.

However, at one point, any team would look to bolster their squad. In Mercedes’ case, Hamilton was a seven-time world champion while Bottas looked like the weak link. Hence, with a young feisty driver like George Russell waiting in line, Mercedes had to get rid of Bottas, which eventually happened by the end of 2021.

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Valtteri Bottas reveals his reaction to offers from other F1 teams

As reported by Formule1, Bottas admitted that Alfa Romeo wasn’t the only team to target the Finn; Turns out, Bottas received a call from a mystery team only a couple of days after he had signed a deal with the Swiss outfit.

“Two days after I signed with Alfa, I got a call,” he told Supla. Bottas remained reluctant to reveal the identity of that team as he further added, “I told them they were a little late!”

“I am still happy with my decision. I think it’s going to be something good,” Bottas concluded. It is likely that the offer could’ve arrived from either Haas or Williams. Both the teams took their own sweet time to reveal the line-up for the 2022 season.

Hence, roping in an experienced driver like Bottas could’ve been a major breakthrough for the two struggling outfits. Nevertheless, the Finn now looks committed to Alfa Romeo and has his entire trust in the team’s future plans. So, will this new partnership work like a charm for the pair?

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