Valtteri Bottas collects his Alfa Romeo Giulia GTAm

• The Finnish driver of the Alfa Romeo F1 Team has taken delivery of his own Giulia GTAm, the ultimate expression of the distinctive style, mechanics and sportiness of Alfa Romeo
• Valtteri Bottas fully joins the heart of the passionate Alfa Romeo Tribe: today he becomes one of 500 customers of Giulia GTA, a collector's car inspired by the legendary 1965 forerunner
• The delivery took place at the Stellantis&You showroom in Turin
• Valtteri Bottas drove his new Giulia GTAm to the Alfa Romeo Centro Stile to work with the team on some exciting future projects

The Alfa Romeo team welcomed F1 driver Valtteri Bottas to the Stellantis &You showroom in Turin to collect his Alfa Romeo Giulia GTAm, purchased by the Finnish champion in distinctive Etna Red. With the purchase of one of 500 Giulia GTA, the most powerful car ever realised by the Italian brand Valtteri Bottas has become a full member of the passionate Alfa Romeo Tribe.

Jean-Philippe Imparato, CEO of Alfa Romeo, Cristiano Fiorio, F1 Manager, Alejandro Mesonero-Romanos, Head of Alfa Romeo Design, and Eligio Catarinella, Head of Marketing and Communication were present to celebrate the delivery of the car to the Finnish driver.

The team welcomed Bottas to the brand’s headquarters at the Alfa Romeo Centro Stile where they celebrated the moment that goes far beyond the simple purchase of an Alfa Romeo vehicle. His desire to become the owner of one of the brand’s legendary cars represents a manifestation of personal union with the brand, with which the driver shares ideals and values.

Valtteri also joined the team to discuss upcoming projects in which the driver is personally involved.

Cristiano Fiorio, Alfa Romeo F1 Manager: “This is a special moment for Alfa Romeo. Valtteri Bottas is an excellent professional, a winner, and his long career in F1, studded with 10 winning grand prix, is evidence of that. His desire to join the inner and exclusive circle of Giulia GTA customers fills us with pride. In a world of business often driven by contractual obligations, today we are celebrating something different: Valtteri has shown us that sometimes passion drives our choices. Welcome Valtteri to the heart of our Tribe”.

Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo F1 Driver: “I'm clearly a lifelong car enthusiast. But most of all I love the Alfa Romeo brand. It is an honor for me to be an ambassador of the brand and now to become a customer, owner of one of the 500 Giulia GTAs. It's a technically excellent vehicle, realised in collaboration with Sauber Engineering by leveraging the expertise and technical know-how that comes directly from Formula 1, but for us car and motorsport enthusiasts it represents so much more. It revives one of the legends of motorsport, the 1965 Giulia GTA, and perfectly embodies the brand's DNA, passion for motorsport, driving pleasure and a unique and distinctive styling appeal”.

Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA:

The Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA has revived one of motoring's legends and a milestone in the brand's history: the 1965 Giulia GTA. The ultimate expression of the unique ability of Alfa Romeo to combine style and sportiness, this model represents an authentic return to the roots of Alfa Romeo founded in the world of performance and grand touring.

The Giulia GTA is a high-performance vehicle based on a production model, the outstanding Giulia Quadrifoglio. Thanks to the extensive adoption of ultralight materials, the Giulia GTA benefits from a weight reduction of up to 100kg compared to the Giulia Quadrifoglio and is equipped with an upgraded version of the Alfa Romeo 2.9-litre V6 Bi-Turbo 540hp engine with a specific power output of 187 hp/liter.

Alfa Romeo engineers worked to improve aerodynamics and handling, but above all to reduce weight - the same guidelines followed for the 1965 Giulia GTA. To achieve these goals, there has been an extensive use of carbon fibre components and composite materials. Aerodynamics were specially designed to increase downforce. In these solutions is the technical know-how that comes directly from Formula 1, thanks to the synergy with Sauber Engineering.

Alfa Romeo engineers were able to benefit from the expertise and facilities of Sauber Engineering. The Swiss company, with more than 50 years of experience in motorsport, 27 of which in F1, has gained in-depth know-how on aerodynamics thanks also to the use of the wind tunnel that is among the most advanced in Europe. The Sauber team actively participated in the design, prototyping and manufacturing of the aerodynamic components of the Giulia GTA.

GTA and Autodelta, a pairing packed with history and sporting successes

The initials GTA stand for ‘Gran Turismo Alleggerita’ (Grand Touring Lightweight), seen for the first time in 1965 on the Giulia Sprint GTA, a specific version derived from the Sprint GT, set up for sports type-approval and unveiled at the Amsterdam Motor Show that year. The bodywork of the Giulia Sprint GT was replaced with an identical aluminium body, with a total weight of 745kg compared to the 950 kg of the road-going version. A second variation concerned the 1,570cc twin cam engine which, in its road-going configuration with dual ignition, reached an impressive output of 115hp. The Autodelta technicians, the first guise of the official Alfa Romeo racing department, chose it as the benchmark vehicle for the Touring category, and developed it to achieve a maximum output of 170hp. Success in competitions came very soon after: three consecutive “Challenge Europeo Marche”, dozens of national championships and hundreds of single races all over the world. The return of image to the line-up also made its mark: the Giulia Sprint GTA epitomised the claim “a victory a day in your everyday car”. Since then, the GTA has become part of the collective unconscious, as an undisputed icon of Biscione sportsmanship, the power of its initials ending up persuading the public to identify Alfa Romeo sports cars in general simply by GTA. Just like the GTA initials, the name Autodelta is similarly as iconic, the eponymous workshop located at the Balocco Proving Ground being the custodian of its cherished legacy.

ENDS