Valtteri Bottas Made Full Use of the Engineer Swap with Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes in 2019

Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas finished as the runner-up in, what he calls, one of his best seasons in Formula One. However, he has attributed his success to Mercedes, partially because they gave him Lewis Hamilton’s engineer. As it turned out, his regular engineer, Tony Ross was reassigned to the German manufacturer’s Formula E programme.

Speaking about the impact of the strategic move, Bottas was all praises and admitted that it was “a great opportunity” to work alongside Hamilton’s former engineer. He was also glad that the swap did not create any rifts between the two Mercedes drivers.

After Ross’ departure, Bottas worked in tandem with Hamilton’s performance engineer Riccardo Musconi, a move that Hamilton also approved. Did the move pay any dividends to the Finn? Absolutely. In terms of the championship battle, Valtteri Bottas drew first blood with pole and a win in Australia. He would follow it up with two 2nd place-finishes and another win at the 2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

“It was good for me to have a change, a different way of working with engineers,” Bottas disclosed to Motorsport.com.

“And also getting Ricci from Lewis’s side, he’s been working with him, so he knows very much in detail about his driving techniques and ways of setting up the car.

“For sure, it was always going to be a great opportunity for me to get maybe something even more than what I normally get in the meetings and what I see from the data. It was nice to have that kind of approach on the engineering side.”

Neither party was opposed to the move, as it was not the first time Mercedes employed such tactics. However, last time, Mercedes had swapped Hamilton’s and Nico Rosberg’s engineers. Since the reigning champion and the Finn had no qualms, Valtteri Bottas suggested that it showcased the positive relationship between the two of them.