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Bottas 'not nervous' over Mercedes future

Published on 06 Aug 2019 15:25
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By: Fergal Walsh

Valtteri Bottas insists he is not feeling nervous when it comes to his future at the Mercedes Formula 1 team.

The Finn is not yet signed up for the 2020 season and faces competition from Esteban Ocon, who is working as a Mercedes development driver this year.

A string of poor races has seen Lewis Hamilton's championship lead grow to 62 points, while Bottas is under pressure to stay ahead of Max Verstappen for second place.

Despite the current question marks regarding his future, Bottas states that he is not feeling nervous after a scrappy Hungarian Grand Prix, which saw him finish eighth after receiving front wing damage on lap one.

MORE: Bottas: Leclerc move 'completely unnecessary' | Masi: Onboard pictures give 'distorted' shots of Leclerc/Bottas contact

“For sure, it would be nice to hear some news when the team decides what they want to do,” said Bottas.

“What can I do? I was trying, took a bit of a risk to try and get the lead braking outside of turn one and then just a bit messy in turn two and three. I was a bit unlucky with the front wing damage, it could have been a different race.

“I don’t think it’s going to change anything, one race, like I said before the weekend. So I’m not really nervous. I’m sure we will know more news very soon.”

Championship deficit a 'tricky situation'

Bottas led the world championship standings early on in the year, having won two of the opening four races.

However, he has not stood on the top step of the podium since Baku, admitting that the current deficit in the championship is bigger than what he would like.

"It's a big gap,” Bottas. “Much bigger than I would have liked to have. But that’s the gap now, there's not a lot else I can do. I don’t really want to think about it too much at the moment.

"We’ll still go through everything about this race with the team and then move on. There’s still many races to go, obviously a bit tricky situation but that’s how it is.”

Pistonhead

Posts: 556

50/50 AJPP ? Surely Merc must also be thinking about experienced drivers for the second seat, last time I checked Ocon had a habit of crashing into his team mate.....I'd like to see Ocon in a seat but promotion to the top seat seems premature for someone who hasn't yet proven their pedigree at th... [Read more]

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Aug 7 2019 - 08:14

F1 News Valtteri Bottas Mercedes

Replies (3)

ajpennypacker

Posts: 2,475
I am going on the record saying that there's no way in hell that Mercedes will, renew Valeri. It doesn't make sense at this point. He's known cipher. He's not cheap. Esteban Ocon is highly motivated. Probably not a superstar, but at least people can wonder about potential. He is also par of the academy. He will also be very cheap
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- Aug 7 2019 - 07:46
Pistonhead

Posts: 556
50/50 AJPP ? Surely Merc must also be thinking about experienced drivers for the second seat, last time I checked Ocon had a habit of crashing into his team mate.....I'd like to see Ocon in a seat but promotion to the top seat seems premature for someone who hasn't yet proven their pedigree at the highest level - maybe you're right though, Bottas has shown he isn't able to perform consistently at this level it's just that Hamilton might just knock the confidence out of Ocon in the first year and that wouldn't be great for the team either
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- Aug 7 2019 - 08:14
Kean

Posts: 692
I'd like to see Ocon in that seat, I think he's much more exciting than Bottas. Ocon proved he has the speed last year, he needs to work on his racecraft a bit but I believe he's a future top driver. I feel that he will go for the gap at times when Bottas won't. Maybe that isn't what Mercedes needs, but that is what this fan wants to see.
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- Aug 8 2019 - 14:13