#77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams F1 Team
Date of Birth: 28/08/1989 | Nationality: Finnish | Twitter: @ValtteriBottas
Career:
Bottas emerged victorious in both the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup and NEC championships and stepped up to European Formula Three in 2009, finishing in third place in the championship. He also won the F3 Masters event and finished the prestigious Macau Grand Prix in fifth place. He retained his Masters crown in 2010 and improved his Macau placing but was unable to claim the overall crown as the Volkswagen engine was significantly improved compared to his Mercedes powered ART machine.
Bottas nonetheless began his connections to Formula 1 by joining Williams as a test driver, filling the void vacated by the promoted Nico Hulkenberg. He remained with ART for an assault on the GP3 Series but mid-season they were in trouble in the middle of the table. He, team-mate James Calado and ART worked wonders and claimed four of the final seven races to clinch the crown.
Bottas spent 2012 out of racing as he opted to spend the year as Williams's reserve driver, as understudy to Pastor Maldonado and Bruno Senna. The Finn participated in 15 free practice sessions and regularly impressed with his speed and methodical approach.
Williams promoted Bottas to a race seat in 2013 in place of Senna but the team struggled with an ill-handling car, restricting Bottas's hopes of points.
He regularly excelled in qualifying, holding the overall advantage over Maldonado, who previously had a reputation for being quick on a Saturday. The high point came during damp conditions in Montreal; Bottas was rapid throughout all three segments of qualifying and lined up in third place on the grid. He battled with the leading drivers for the first stint of the race but ultimately he regressed to the limitations of the car.
It took until the penultimate round of the year before Bottas registered his first Formula 1 points as he was quick all weekend in the United States and followed up a Q3 appearance with eighth place in the race, collecting four of the five points that Williams amassed in 2013.