Valtteri Bottas opens up on Lewis Hamilton tensions

Valtteri Bottas talks about tensions with Lewis Hamilton

Valtteri Bottas insists nobody told him he could beat Lewis Hamilton.

Valtteri Bottas admits he often found himself in “difficult situations” during his five-year spell at Mercedes because he was always on one-year contracts. Several Formula 1 drivers have said they prefer a two-year contract to a one-season deal because it allows them to relax and focus on racing.

Bottas has struggled to secure a one-year deal for each of his five seasons with the Silver Arrows, but has “no regrets” about his time racing for the German outfit. The Finnish driver switched from Williams to Mercedes in 2017, replacing Nico Rosberg, who decided to retire from the sport after winning the Drivers’ Championship in 2016.

Bottas’ early years at Mercedes were his strongest. This is because his speed was much slower than Lewis Hamilton towards the end of his time with the Silver Arrows. While Hamilton won the championship with Bottas in four of his five seasons on the road, taking 50 victories, the Sauber driver finished on top of the podium on just 10 occasions.

Many argued that the Finn could not compete with the seven-time world champion, which drew criticism from Bottas. He said his goal every year is to win the title and he doesn’t need someone from Mercedes to constantly tell him he has a chance to beat Hamilton.

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Bottas said everyone at Brackley’s team was very “open” and knew that if he was bad they would replace him. “No, it was a very open meeting,” Bottas told Autosport.

“It’s all based on facts and you can look at the data on these things. You can see the average difference between qualifying speed or race speed. Nothing was avoided. “I have no regrets because it was a difficult situation because I signed a one-year contract every year.

“I knew I had to be integrated with this team if I was going to fight for the title. If I was stupid, I could easily lose my job. “They can save someone else at any time.”