Toto Wolff confident about Hamilton – Bottas deal

Mercedes experienced an intense transition from 2016 to 2017. Management of the sudden departure of world champion Nico Rosberg at the end of last year, departure of his technical director Paddy Lowe, and continued development of the new car 2017 did not give the world champions any respite.

“There were several decisions that had to be made and evaluations that had to be carried out, precise Toto wolff, boss of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport. The issue of drivers was one, as was Paddy's departure. To make the team even stronger for the future, we had to carefully study what step forward we were taking. »

This unexpected situation in the star clan ultimately led to the recruitment of the Finn Valtteri Bottas, poached from Williams to support Lewis Hamilton.

An association which does not seem to worry Toto Wolff who also managed the career of the former Grove driver. “I think the balance between Valtteri and Lewis works, specifies the Austrian in a video posted on the Mercedes AMG Youtube page F1.

They are two very different personalities and for us, it was important to fill the space left by Nico's departure. Nico had a definite role in the team, and Valtteri fits into that. We believe that the interaction, the dynamic between the two drivers will work well. They respect each other and, so far, from what I've seen, Valtteri is adapting well. »

The three-time world champion outfit recently started the Power Unit of its 2017 single-seater for the first time, and will officially present its car on February 23 at Silverstone.