Two-time world champion Mika Hakkinen has said that Valtteri Bottas has been a great servant to Mercedes and has backed him to be a success in leading the Alfa Romeo team from 2022 onwards.

Formula 1 has had itself a busy week in terms of driver announcements with Bottas kicking off the action on Monday, seeing it confirmed that he was heading to Alfa from the Silver Arrows for next season on a multi-year deal.

Indeed, he will be replaced by George Russell and it's going to be fascinating to watch the Finn settle in in his new surroundings, tasked with trying to lead Alfa up the grid as the new regulations come into force for next season.

Mika, though, is confident that Bottas will deliver the goods for his new team, and also suggested that he has been a really solid member of the Mercedes garage for the past four years.

"Valtteri has really proven to be a first-class teammate to Lewis, but I am so happy to see him accept a multi-year agreement to join Alfa Romeo Racing from 2022 onwards," he said in his Unibet column.

"He has been a strong part of Mercedes, the team winning the World Championship for Constructors every season. Being teammate to Lewis is never easy, but Valtteri has pushed hard, never given up and given the team a positive atmosphere.

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"At Alfa Romeo Racing he has the opportunity to use his enormous experience to help them develop.

"With a completely new set of technical regulations in 2022, coming on top of the budget cap which started this year, I know that team boss Frederic Vasseur is determined to achieve some big targets in the future. Valtteri is the perfect guy to help them do that."

Certainly, 2022 is a great opportunity for every team to try and gain ground and reshape the running order, and Bottas will hope he can be at the forefront of any progress that Alfa make in the coming seasons.