Valtteri Bottas 'was almost angry at F1' after racing alongside Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton almost drove former teammate Valtteri Bottas to the brink of retiring from F1 during their time together at Mercedes, the Finn has confessed.
Bottas, now at Alfa Romeo, joined Mercedes when they needed to fill the void left by Nico Rosberg's retirement days after winning his maiden world championship in 2016.
Between 2017 and 2021, the 32-year-old was unable to get the better of Lewis Hamilton, despite being in what was arguably the most dominant car on the F1 grid. This was made most evident by the stats of the pair.
The Briton won four titles, with 50 wins, 42 pole positions, and 78 podiums during those aforemention five seasons. In contrast, Bottas had 10 wins, 20 poles, and 58 podiums. Hamilton also outscored the Finn by nearly 600 points during that period.
Having now assumed the role of team leader at Alfa Romeo as opposed to playing second fiddle to Lewis Hamilton at the Silver Arrows, Bottas reflected on how he came close to quitting due to Lewis Hamilton's dominance.
During a conversation on the Motor Sport Magazine Podcast, Bottas said:
“At the end of 2018, I almost stopped, it was so close. Just because of the fact that I couldn’t understand and take the fact that I couldn’t beat Lewis [Hamilton] in those two years. I put so much pressure on myself. Towards the end of ’18, especially when I started to have the support role in the team, I really couldn’t take it, I really struggled. It was not fun.”
Bottas then went on to reveal how he got over the disappointment of his first two seasons with Mercedes, adding:
“The human mind is strange in a way that sometimes you go into dark places. You lose the joy in things and I just completely lost the joy of F1 and racing in F1. I was almost angry at F1. It’s weird, but I just needed some time off, and think of the big picture and then I realised that ‘OK, it’s actually a pretty cool sport and I still have great opportunities ahead of me’. So I would be silly not to take them.”
Valtteri Bottas feels a South-American break helped him return stronger for 2019 battle against Lewis Hamilton
Valtteri Bottas admitted to taking a step back and going on a break to South America to recharge himself for 2019, in what he calls his strongest campaign against Lewis Hamilton.
On the Motor Sport Magazine Podcast, the Finnish driver said:
“I decided to go on a break in South America somewhere and just try not to think about F1 at all, and just try to find the will and the joy for the sport and the motivation. I found it, it was like a click. Probably [in] mid-January, I decided ‘OK, let’s do this. I can still do it’. So I managed to get myself together and I found the joy of driving again. Immediately, the results were much better than in ’18.”
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The Finn started the 2019 season with a win in Melbourne and six consecutive podium places right through to Monte Carlo. Ultimately though, he ran out of steam while Hamilton maintained the charge. Bottas added:
“2019 was probably my best season so far, especially against Lewis. I won quite a few races, and especially until halfway through the season, I was sometimes even leading the championship, so it was a pretty, pretty strong year, but then just Lewis’ consistency and performances overall, for the whole season, I couldn’t match.”
Heading into the 2022 F1 British GP, Valtteri Bottas is eighth in the World Drivers' Championship standings, having picked up 46 out of the 51 points scored by Alfa Romeo this season.