Bottas: Best way to beat Hamilton is to focus on myself
- Published on 27 Mar 2020 10:02
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- By: Fergal Walsh
Valtteri Bottas affirms the best way for him to beat teammate Lewis Hamilton and become a world champion is to focus on the job he himself is doing.
2020 is the fourth year that Bottas has partnered Hamilton at Mercedes, having joined the Silver Arrows following Nico Rosberg's retirement in 2016.
However, he has failed to consistently challenge Hamilton, who has won every world drivers' championship since Bottas joined Mercedes.
MORE: Hamilton urges public to stop 'totally irresponsible and selfish' socialising
2019 saw Bottas' most successful year to date in Formula 1, winning four races on his way to second place in the standings.
When asked if beating Hamilton was his main goal for the year, the Finn replied: “It’s the best comparison you can have.
“Maybe not particularly in testing because you might be running different programmes but when it comes to racing for sure, if I want to reach my goal which is the world title, I’ve got to beat my teammate as well.
“That will be high focus for me, but the best way to do it is to focus on myself.”
The 2020 season has been delayed due to the coronavirus outbreak, which has impacted the opening eight races of the year.
The earliest the sport will return to action is June at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal - a venue at which Bottas has four podium results.
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Replies (9)
Login to replyManto02
Posts: 93
Better way to beat Hamilton is without James
Pistonhead
Posts: 556
Who's is James sorry?
abhidbgt
Posts: 283
:D
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
Oh please, as if Bottas had been anywhere near fighting for a championship in three years. James issued a team order at a time when the championship was all but settled.
Bottas has no chance of beating Hamilton over a season. Which is a shame, as Lewis does get rattled when pushed (like every other driver). I would go e anything to see Alonso, Max, or Ricciardo in the other Mercedes
Manto02
Posts: 93
You're right, but bottas never had a serious chance of trying to get the title in his first two seasons.
They also gave him a team order last year in Singapore when technically the wdc was still open but the WCC was basically sealed
But of course rosberg had the mentality to beat lewis and valtteri didn't
denis1304
Posts: 284
This guy is delusional...
Dert38
Posts: 377
no he isnt
mcbhargav
Posts: 1,332
would said the same about Rosberg before he beat HAM.
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
Rosberg was different. He was always very close to Lewis. He won regularly. Got a lot of pole positions. Even when not winning, Rosberg had an effect on Lewis that Valteri has never achieved. Lewis is so comfortable that Valteri can't beat him that even when Valteri wins, Lewis is ok. Whenever Rosberg won pole or s race, Lewis was always livid and often times rattled. He would botch his starts at the race, mess up his Q3 laps, etc. That will never happen with Bottas