Bottas claims Mercedes would have ‘banned’ him from personal decision

Lewis Hamilton on difficult season for Mercedes in November

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Valtteri Bottas has claimed Mercedes would have “banned” him from making a personal lifestyle decision if he was still in the team. The Finn assumed the Silver Arrows would not have allowed him to grow a mullet due to different “company policies”.

However, the 33-year-old stressed this is something which he is given the freedom to do at Alfa Romeo. Bottas was axed by Mercedes in favour of George Russell last season with Bottas opting to sign up with the Swiss-based Sauber squad.

He also accepted there had been a change in his personality since switching allegiances from Mercedes to Alfa Romeo. He said: “Now I feel like I can truly be who I am, for sure there’s a bit of a difference.

“I think company policies might be a bit different in different workplaces let’s say. Some things might be a bit more restricted, but I think it’s time and getting older as well, all the skills and learning F1 has given me, you eventually just learn sometimes not to take things too seriously, especially yourself.

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“I imagine I would not have been allowed [to grow the mullet at Mercedes], so that’s one example.” Bottas is clearly fond of his new look with a mullet and moustache design on his 2023 helmet.

He even admitted getting his mullet haircut over the winter was a major life highlight. He explained: “That was a big highlight of my life actually. For now it’s staying. It feels very much part of me.”

Bottas has previously claimed he suffered from an eating disorder earlier in his career. The 10-time F1 race winner also revealed he had asked for “outside help” during his final year at Mercedes.

Most of his concerns were around the future of his career with the German manufacturer reluctant to sign him up for multiple seasons. Bottas was eventually offered a multi-year contract with Alfa Romeo which allowed him to focus on his performances.

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He has pledged to avoid similar issues at Alfa Romeo as he pushed team bosses to sit down to discuss his F1 future sooner rather than later. He told Autosport: “I’ve been in that situation so many times where it’s become a distraction.

“So yeah, for sure, it’s going to be a talking point hopefully quite early [in the year] on what’s going to happen. It is important to me to have that stability after 10 years of not so much stability.”

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