Formula 1: Valtteri Bottas talks ‘great fit’ partnership ahead of Las Vegas

Formula 1 driver Valtteri Bottas spoke about his and his Alfa Romeo team’s partnership with Hyland and the advantages it provides.

Hyland, an American software company which provides industry-leading technology foundations that empower its customers to create better human connections, has been a partner of Formula 1 driver Valtteri Bottas since the 2022 season.

The company is trusted by thousands of organizations worldwide, including more than half of the Fortune 100 — and Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake, which have also been partnered with the brand since 2022.

Ahead of the United States’ third Formula 1 race of the 2023 season in Las Vegas, Bottas, who joined Alfa Romeo last year himself, spoke about the benefits of the partnership.

“We’ve been partners for a couple of years now with Hyland, personally,” Bottas told Beyond the Flag. “And then also at the same time they joined my team, which is really cool because I think what they do as a company and the way they find solutions for businesses and/or race teams, as you can see. It’s quite nice that actually our team can use the services and benefit from that.”

Bottas also spoke about how he first became acquainted with the Ohio-based brand.

“For me it was actually quite a fun coincidence in the beginning because Valt Vesikallio, the SVP of Global Services, he’s from the same town as me from Finland, so yeah, eventually we found each other and started talking.

“Hyland was looking for a couple of athletes to be their partners, and then I think they found me and [golfer] Xander [Schauffele], and it’s quite cool. It’s all happened pretty naturally. It’s a great fit.”

Admittedly, Bottas was not familiar with the brand before the partnership got started, but he knew right away that a role as brand ambassador with the organization just made sense.

“Hyland as a brand, [I had] not, but then when I heard about the softwares they’re doing, the companies they’ve been working [with], then it kind of clicked and I kind of knew what they were speaking about.”

Having a successful Formula 1 driver in Bottas and a successful golfer in Schauffele as brand ambassador makes sense for Hyland on multiple levels.

Most importantly, both sports are an innovation expert’s dream, given the revolutionary materials and the staggering feats of engineering involved in both.

So ahead of this coming weekend’s inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix, Hyland challenged Bottas and Schauffele to see who knows Formula 1 — and golf — innovation best.

Some of their answers might surprise you.

From Alfa Romeo’s perspective, having Hyland as a partner is also quite beneficial.

“In our sport, data is a big thing when you’re looking for improvements,” Bottas continued. “But nowadays, the amount of, for example, sensors our car has, is almost too much. So you have to prioritize certain things, how you analyze things, and what things to focus on.”

Within the team, the benefits of Hyland aren’t just seen on the race track.

“Also when it comes to communication for the people, Hyland provides lots of solutions, how to be more efficient when you’re communicating and have your meetings and your schedules,” he continued. “So there are many things behind the scenes that Hyland can help any company, even a race team, which kind of operates as a company as well.”