Lewis Hamilton’s former Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas is excited about the Brit’s next move.

The British driver ends his 12-year association with the German manufacturer at the end of the season

He will finally make his dream switch to Ferrari having agreed a multi-year deal with the Italians before the start of the current campaign.

The deal came out of the blue leaving many shocked, with Carlos Sainz leaving the Prancing Horse and Charles Leclerc remaining.

He even took a huge paycut to make the move, which will see him well behind Max Verstappen’s salary.

Bottas, though, who partnered him for five years is delighted for Hamilton both professionally and personally.

Speaking to talkSPORT after testing out Kick Sauber partner Zero’s carbon neutral synthetic fuel at their test track at Bicester Heritage, Bottas explained his feelings on the move.

“I’m actually excited for him,” he said. “I think it’s a big change on the Formula 1 grid but also for his life.

“It’s a new era. He’s still motivated and he wants to get back to the top. I think it’s going to be really nice to follow.

“It will initially be quite strange seeing Lewis in red but people will get used to it.”

The Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber driver famously gifted Hamilton a framed naked photo of himself.

Since then, he’s also released his own naked calendar for charity, raising $150,000 for Movember.

And when queried if another was on the way, he added: “There’s no release date yet. Keep waiting, you never know with me.”