Wednesday morning, Williams F1 Team announced that Finland's Valtteri Bottas is their new race driver alongside Pastor Maldonado for the 2013 Formula 1 World Championship. Who is this newcomer?
Bottas was born August 28, 1989, in the city of Villädhe, Finland.
The teenager started his career like most other aspriring drivers (in karting), winning the ICA Viking Trophy in 2005.
He began racing cars the following year in the Formula Renault 2.0 category in Great Britain.
Bottas' big break came in 2008 when he won the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup, where he took five wins, and also claimed the title in the British NEC FR 2.0 series as well.
Bottas then moved up to the Formula 3 Euroseries where he ranked third overall in 2009. He also won the F3 Masters at Zandvoort, one of the most prestigious races of the year in F3.
In 2010, Bottas was named Wiliams' official test driver while he continued to race in the Euro F3 championship.
The Finn claimed the GP3 series' title the year after, taking four wins with team Lotus ART.
In 2012, Bottas was Williams' reserve driver and piloted Bruno Senna's FW34 on 15 Friday free practice sessions. His career is managed by Christian “Toto” Wolff, a shareholder of the Williams F1 Team.
Bottas was born August 28, 1989, in the city of Villädhe, Finland.
The teenager started his career like most other aspriring drivers (in karting), winning the ICA Viking Trophy in 2005.
He began racing cars the following year in the Formula Renault 2.0 category in Great Britain.
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| Valtteri Bottas, GP3 Champion in 2011. (Photo: GP3 Series) |
Bottas' big break came in 2008 when he won the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup, where he took five wins, and also claimed the title in the British NEC FR 2.0 series as well.
Bottas then moved up to the Formula 3 Euroseries where he ranked third overall in 2009. He also won the F3 Masters at Zandvoort, one of the most prestigious races of the year in F3.
In 2010, Bottas was named Wiliams' official test driver while he continued to race in the Euro F3 championship.
The Finn claimed the GP3 series' title the year after, taking four wins with team Lotus ART.
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| Valtteri Bottas driving the FW34 in Malaysia, during the Friday morning session. (Photo: WRi2) |
In 2012, Bottas was Williams' reserve driver and piloted Bruno Senna's FW34 on 15 Friday free practice sessions. His career is managed by Christian “Toto” Wolff, a shareholder of the Williams F1 Team.