After five years at Mercedes, Valtteri Bottas will start in Formula 1 for Alfa Romeo in the 2022 season. His successor in the Silver Arrow is George Russell. But the young Briton, who previously drove for Williams, will have an extremely difficult time, as Bottas now explained.
“I don’t see anyone beating Lewis (Hamilton, ed.) in the same car in the near future,” Bottas told the English “Sun”.
Russell will find his way around immediately because he has been around Mercedes for years and was a reserve driver, Bottas continued: “But defeating Lewis is not easy. I had to experience it.”
Hamilton’s big plus is his “consistency”, Bottas analyzed. This sets him apart from the rest. “Every driver has his ups and downs, but Hamilton’s basic performance is already very high,” said the Finn, adding: “Even if he has a bad day, it’s not really bad.”
Hamilton’s second great ability is that he can adapt perfectly to changing conditions. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s the set-up or something else,” explained the 32-year-old.
Bottas: I “learned a lot” at Mercedes
Add to that the driving skills of the seven-time world champion. “His tire management is exceptional,” said Bottas. “He combines all these things with his talent.” In addition, Hamilton works incredibly hard behind the scenes, which many observers do not even notice. In short: Russell should by no means hope to outperform the veteran in the near future.
Bottas himself could not prevail against Hamilton in any of the seasons together. While the Briton won 50 races during the five-year phase, Bottas only had ten successes in the Mercedes car, which was mostly superior to the competition.
Still, Bottas is generally happy with his 10 wins and 20 pole positions overall, although he admitted on his podcast on Finnish platform ‘Supla’: “When I joined the team in 2017, the only thing on my mind was to win the World Cup. I didn’t succeed. But I have to look at the positive.”
And that’s when the 32-year-old came up with something: “I’ve grown as a racer and as a person. I’ve learned so much. And we’ve achieved some really cool things together. So there’s also a lot of positive things, and I definitely take that with.”