Ever since it was confirmed that Mercedes had chosen to replace Valtteri Bottas with George Russell for 2022, the general assumption was that this was a decision taken by Mercedes. Bottas, however, has revealed that it was his choice to leave Mercedes and he has now explained why to MTV Link to poll: https://www.youtube.com/post/UgzRq5Mg6os_TW8CruB4AaABCQ 0:00 - Valtteri Bottas Gives His Honest Assessment Of Time With Mercedes 2:08 - Fast Feed I'm your host Tyler and first up on Formula World: Bottas began by being positive about the upcoming change in regulations “It's interesting that everything is wide open. The deck can certainly be shuffled quite a bit. In theory, the performance of all the teams should be pretty close. There shouldn't be big differences. That already brings a kind of positivity to everything” He then explained how his experience with a championship winning team will help him next year “I have now been with the championship team for four years in a row. It's a lot of experience for me, and I can help the team to move forward. Everything I've learned and everything I know, I'm going to take forward, starting with teamwork” He then spoke about his goal for the future “It's definitely going to be a busy spring, getting to grips with everything and getting to know everyone. And going through things to see how to get better results and hopefully fight for a win one day” He then spoke about the importance of his multi-year deal with Alfa Romeo “It was really important for me. My whole career has been pretty much a knife in the throat, always just one year at a time. It's good to have a project that you can really focus on in the longer term. You don't have to stress about your own driving position and future for at least a few years. You can concentrate on the task at hand and get on with it” He further explained how this decision came to be “Again, it was the same situation in the spring and summer with Mercedes, that at some point you had to start talking about a new contract. The way things were going and the mood I was in, and in fact the team was in, it was pretty much agreed that this was the way to go” He signed off by stating that he was done with one-year deals from Mercedes when asked if he would have stayed with them provided a multi-year deal was on the table “Absolutely. Yes. If Mercedes had offered me a multi-year contract, that would have definitely been the first option. But I wouldn't have gone for one more year” Fast Feed Red Bull’s Sergio Perez feels that “Monza is a unique challenge with everyone fighting in qualifying to get close to each other for a tow” [Red Bull Racing] “If you get it right it can make all the difference but it can also become a mess as we’ve seen in previous years so it’s important to get it right”, he added “With Mercedes' top speed I don't expect Monza to be our strongest track but hopefully we'll be in the fight” Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has suggested that “there are going to be circuits that suit Mercedes and there'll be circuits that suit [them]” [Motorsport] “The next phase of the championship will be interesting. So, we need to make sure we grab every opportunity”, Horner stated Former F1 driver Nico Hulkenberg feels that Red Bull’s “Max [Verstappen] has shown that he can fight for the world championship” [Servus TV] “Mercedes tried everything to get Max [in Zandvoort]. They played with all their options. They will not admit defeat. The fight will continue at Monza and I suspect he will continue until the end of the season” “Hats off to Max. He sees every day how many people come for him. Subconsciously that does something to a person, but it was impressive how Max was able to block it”, Hulkenberg deduced Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton wants “to take a moment to welcome George Russell to the team” [Instagram] “I remember meeting him when he was young, dreaming of one day being a Formula 1 driver. I had only just realized my own dream, so I know what this day means and how it will feel for him” “He is a great example to all the kids out there that dreams do come true when you chase them wholeheartedly. I look forward to seeing him grow as a driver with this great team and working with him to raise Mercedes higher”, he concluded McLaren’s Lando Norris has explained that in Zandvoort he couldn’t “look in [his] mirror the whole way around the corner” just prior to tangling with Sergio Perez [ESPN] “But of course, I’m going to come on throttle and try and squeeze him and not make his life easy. But it’s only that, I’m not going to try and make contact or try and force him off or anything” “The last time I did, I got a penalty. I’m not stupid, I’m not silly, but I’m not going to let him past either”, he stated Could Valtteri Bottas have performed better if he had received a multi-year contract during his time with Mercedes?