Valtteri Bottas has been more involved with the team during the development of the Alfa Romeo Sauber C43 than with any other F1 car in his career.

Bottas joined the Swiss squad for the 2022 season after a five-year stint with Mercedes.

Paired with Formula 1 rookie Guanyu Zhou, it saw him take on a leadership style role within the organisation.

He was highly praised for the positive impact he had on the team, going on to lead the team’s charge by scoring 49 of its 55 points.

On top of his on-track contribution, the 33-year-old played an active role off-track, too.

“In this time, I feel like my role has been very different to what I’ve ever had, really, in Formula 1,” Bottas said.

“[I have] A bit more involvement, bit more information going through me in a way.

“Obviously the work started early last year together. I tried to give all my experience and technical knowledge from the past, and then that work continues.

“Throughout the whole [of] last year, whether it’s an issue with car balance or whatever, we’re always feeding back as best we can.

“And when I’m at the factory, I like to get updates [on] how things are going and obviously if I have any ideas or questions then I asked them and we speak.

“So it’s [a] really open situation in the team, and I love to know always as much as I can, all the details with the new car.”

It’s left the Finn both motivated and enthused at the progress he has seen.

“I think it’s fair to say like, the set-up, the direction we’ve gone, the development of the car balance throughout the whole last year has gone into the right direction, and that work continues,” he said.

“We’ll see with this new car,” he added.

“I think hopefully everything is in an even better place in those situations and we keep working hard.”

Significant change is on the cards at Sauber, with new CEO Andreas Seidl the first evidence of Audi’s formal arrival in F1 in 2026.

Bottas joined on a ‘multi-year’ deal at the start of 2022 – whether that means the coming campaign is the last on his current contract is thus far unclear.

However, with investment already being made by Audi, the Hinwil based operation is an attractive one for a driver interested, and able, to lead the team.

Formula 1 pre-season testing begins on Thursday, with three days of running in Bahrain.

The opening round of the season then follows next week, with the Bahrain Gran Prix from March 2-5.