“Alfa Romeo was ready to part ways with Bottas,” claims Blick
The Swiss newspaper states that the Italo-Swiss team could have parted ways with Valtteri Bottas to recruit Nico Hülkenberg. However, terminating the Finnish driver's contract would have been too expensive. Haas also did not want to release the German driver.
It’s a bombshell dropped by our Swiss colleagues. According to Roger Benoît, a journalist at Blick, there were tensions at Alfa Romeo to form their driver lineup for next year. Initially, Guanyu Zhou didn’t seem to be in a strong position due to financial reasons. However, the Chinese driver has ultimately been retained by the Italian-Swiss team.
The one who will be participating in his third season in F1 next year will still be teaming up with Valtteri Bottas, even though the latter could have not been retained. Indeed, Blick reports that Alfa Romeo was strongly interested in Nico Hülkenberg. But the transfer will not happen for two reasons.
First, because Günther Steiner, the boss of the Haas team, did not want to release the German from his contract. Additionally, breaking Valtteri Bottas’s contract, which was valid until 2024, would have been very expensive for Alfa Romeo.
The team could also have chosen Théo Pourchaire, the current leader of the Formula 2 championship, or Felipe Drugovich, last year’s champion. But Alfa Romeo preferred the option of experience and stability by keeping its duo unchanged for 2024.
