Why the 2024 campaign is suddenly critical for one F1 stalwart
OPINION: Lewis Hamilton’s decision to join Ferrari has lit up a Formula 1 driver market that had appeared to be stalling amongst the top teams as 2024 commenced, all while looking forward to 2025. And it’s made things trickier for one driver with which he shares much…
There’s an exclusive club inside the current Formula 1 driving crop. Just three of their number can boast an unbroken run of continuous employment in the championship stretching back over a decade. And, when the various 2020 COVID-19 absences are factored in for Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez, membership of this group slims down to just one: Valtteri Bottas.
The Finnish driver is about to embark on his 12th F1 campaign, having started off with Williams in 2013. Since then, 223 races have been held, with Bottas’s only missing start being the 2015 Australian Grand Prix, where the now 34-year-old withdrew due to a back injury sustained in a qualifying crash (he still qualified sixth, which keeps that unbroken streak going).
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