Valtteri Bottas has now officially joined Mercedes from Williams, whilst Felipe Massa has come out of his short lived retirement to return to Williams.
The 27-year-old Finnish driver replaces 2016 Formula One World Champion Nico Rosberg who announced his retirement within days of winning last seasons title.
Bottas joins three-time Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton for the 2017 and is immediately targeting a winning start to his time with Mercedes.
?We did the contract today and obviously I?ve been dreaming for a long time to drive for a team like this, a team of champions,’ Bottas told Sky Sports on Monday.
‘?I can?t wait to start working properly. There is still enough time until testing to get everything sorted. My goal for the first race is to get all the points available that there?s absolutely possible in the car.
?I?m still missing my first win, so that?s the first mission.’
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has been part of Bottas’s management but has now stepped down from that role and would not confirm how long his contract with Mercedes is for.
‘We have a couple of options, We were caught back with Nico’s decision to retire and we have some great junior drivers with Pascal [Wehrlein] and Esteban [Ocon] coming up the ranks.
‘But they need a little bit more time so for us it was key to keep the options open and Valtteri is very well aware of that. He needs to just perform and be quick and then the future can be his.’ Wolff told Sky Sports.
That appears to intimate that Bottas may well have signed a contract initially for 2017 only. With either an option in Mercedes favour, or a performance clause for Bottas to earn a new deal beyond an initial one year.
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