Bottas: One-year deal won't affect 2020 season
- Published on 01 Mar 2020 12:38
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- By: Fergal Walsh
Valtteri Bottas affirms that his current one-year contract at Mercedes won't add extra pressure on his shoulders in 2020.
Since joining the team in 2017, Bottas has been retained by the Silver Arrows on a year-by-year basis alongside six-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.
Both Bottas and Hamilton are out of contract at the end of the 2020 campaign ahead of a major regulation change in the sport in 2021.
With Mercedes junior George Russell currently racing at Williams, Bottas is not worried about the possibility of losing his seat at the team.
“Honestly it’s not affecting me in any way. It’s the same as before,” said the Finn. “It’s not a new situation. But it is interesting for sure this year with the championship and then looking at next year with big changes in Formula 1 in general.
“But that’s later on, I’m not thinking about it too much at the moment. The preparation has been very good and hasn’t really changed in that many ways.”
Bottas 'feels developed' from 2019
In 2019, Bottas opened his championship in strong fashion, winning two out of the first four races, including Australia, the first race of the season.
His solid form saw him pick up the nickname 'Bottas 2.0', however his title challenge disappeared as the season wore on.
When asked if he is preparing to unleash 'Valtteri 3.0' in 2020, he replied: “I don’t know about the numbers or versions but I feel very good. I feel very developed from last year.
“I had a good break to take time to step back from Formula 1 and process everything from last year. I started to work early with the engineers in January preparing for this season.
“Based on my feeling in the car, I feel I’ve been able to make progress since last year. It only matters in the races, but I’m in a good mindset, I’m just waiting for the season, I’ve been waiting for quite some time for the season to start.”
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Replies (5)
Login to replycalle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Kinda has to though. Bottas must git gud this season, or he might be replaced, regardless of whether he is a good B-driver or not.
Ram Samartha
Posts: 1,172
Agree. But even if he doesn't beat Ham and get renewed at Merc I would be very surprised if he finds himself without a seat next year. It's got to be tough being in Ham's shadow, it makes him look not as good as he is. He isn't at Merc because just he's a good number 2, but because he is one of the best drivers on the grid. I would say in the top 5 if not the top 7.
Manto02
Posts: 93
One of the best drivers on the grid Bottas?
He he is only there because Merc can use him for team orders and is a good driver but nothing more.
On the grid he is far behind Hamilton, Vettel, leclerc, verstappen, albon, norris, sainz, russel, ricciardo in terms of skills, maybe he is as good as Perez or maybe even Perez could be better in a mercedes
mcbhargav
Posts: 1,332
Agree with most observations. But, my ranking of Bottas would be different. Ham, Max, Lec, Ricciardo, Vettel, Sainz, Bottas.
Pistonhead
Posts: 556
Im not going to comment on Bottas again this year, said it all before, desperately requires 3.0.