After a disastrous 2018 season for Bottas where he got lapped in the double championship winning Mercedes car, I ask, is Bottas on the way out?
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After a disastrous 2018 season for Bottas where he got lapped in the double championship winning Mercedes car, I ask, is Bottas on the way out?
He could be, if he doesn't have a much better 2019!
Plus this:
Quote:
Billionaire Antti Aarnio-Wihuri, boss of the Finnish conglomerate Wihuri, told Ilta Sanomat newspaper that sponsoring Formula 1 has become "too expensive" for his tastes.He also admitted that Bottas' poor performance at Mercedes in 2018 contributed to the decision.
Read more: https://autoweek.com/article/formula...#ixzz5d5qH1HZL
While I think it's safe to say nobody expected him to challenge Lewis, I hope that most of us expected more. I know I did.
Overall as far as the top teams go, the under performer of 2018 IMO. When you factor for DNFs beyond a drivers control (such as Ricciardo vs Max) almost all other teams had a reasonable battle between the team mates. The Merc team had one DNF each, and Lewis just flat out trashed Bottas. To top it off, he got beat by Kimi and Max as well, who both had 3-4 car related DNFs.
At the time I thought Merc were making a smart move and finding a good supporting driver for the team. After last year, I think maybe they got it wrong.
I hope he has a better 2019. I suspect if he doesn't then Merc might not have much choice.
He will be if he repeats last season. Personally I think he will be fine.
Without the team order at the Russian GP, which forced him to give up the race win, Bottas would have finished the 2018 season with 254 points and in 3rd position, behind second-place Vettel.
Great point, but still lagging Lewis in epic fashion.
Even adjusting for Sochi, Bottas was 147 points behind Lewis, each with 1 DNF
Kimi was only 79 points behind Seb, and had 4 DNFs to Sebs 1
Ricciardo was 79 points behind Max with 8 DNFs to Max's 3
If we were to adjust for DNFs based on driver fault vs car failure, the battles in the Ferrari and RB teams get closer. Granted comparing anyone to Hamilton when he had a good season is hard, but that is still a big gap vs the other teams.
I hope he can up his game this season. If the Merc slips vs the competition, he may be a mid pack driver.
I don't see Bottas being around in 2020 (not at Mercedes anyway) but I am ready to be proven wrong. He's obviously not a bad driver but Ferrari has been doing a good job shorting the gap and Mercedes will need a more solid driver line-up if they want a shot at the WCC
Esteban Ocon acting as the Mercedes reserve or third driver, will have the sword of damocles hanging over Bottas head. If Valtteri doesn't have a much stronger 2019 season.
I’d rather have Bottas than Ocon as I think Ocon has a lot to learn especially when it comes to wheel to wheel racing. I’m still shocked by his stupidity in Brazil this year. Personally I think Mercedes should have fired Bottas this year and that they haven’t only tends me to believe that they also do not have 100% faith in Ocons race craft, otherwise I think he would have got the seat. The only reason Bottas still has a drive is that no one else of significant quality was available. Next season that’ll be different.
The Black Knight...…Ocon made a clumsy move on Verstappen at Brazil, no question about that. But, I kind of liked the fact Esteban had shown, that he wasn't willing to be intimidated by the likes of Max, and mix it up with him.
The on track clashes that Ocon had, and especially with his teammate Perez, may have given some to question his race craft, but I doubt very much that ToTo shares that view, or opinion.