Bottas confident that Mercedes have more to give

Valtteri Bottas has stated that despite Mercedes focusing their attention to 2022, he is certain that there will be more improvements to come for this year’s car.

With the regulation changes coming into force next year, most teams have started to focus more on the 2022 concept car, with very little or no upgrades to follow for the current season. However, Bottas seems confident that Mercedes have more to give to challenge Red Bull for the title this year.

Speaking to HypeBeast, the Finn said: “The fact is we are not developing the current car anymore at the factory, but there are still improvements to come. Because obviously once you discover something in the wind tunnel, there’s a delay before you actually get the parts onto the track. So it doesn’t matter like this,”

“We had some new parts at Silverstone and I hope we will have some more later on, but at some point that will have to stop because obviously next year there’s a big regulation change and the team needs to balance out the car’s performance this year versus next year.”

Image Credit: Imago

Bottas has had a tough season so far this year, with many believing that his seat at Mercedes is at risk of being lost to young Williams driver George Russell. Currently fourth in the driver standings, behind the McLaren of Lando Norris, Bottas has faced a lot of criticism on his performance.

“It’s not fun,” he continued. “Sometimes I don’t know if I should cry or laugh because it almost feels like there’s been an incredible amount of bad luck happening. But you know, what can you do? Sometimes there’ll be things you can’t affect so you just need to try and move on,”

“What hurts the most is if I make a mistake myself and if I have a bad weekend, because I haven’t performed at the level I should be performing at. That’s more painful and I am always trying to learn from each situation. It’s not been the best season with mixed results and lacking pace, but here we are and there’s still a long, long year ahead.”

Part of this constant criticism is being compared to his team mate, seven time world champion, Sir Lewis Hamilton. The Brit has managed to turn his fortunes around this year, in controversial circumstances, in the race for his eighth title.

“Being Lewis’ teammate is not easy because he’s pretty fast, both in qualifying and especially in the races,” Bottas added. “It makes me push myself more and always try to dig deeper or try new things because I know I need to give absolutely everything I can if I want to beat him. So in that sense, it’s not easy but it’s also really motivating,”

“It’s also been really enjoyable to be honest. We’ve been able to work really well as a team and if you look back at the last four years, we’ve managed to achieve great things as a team, so it keeps me working hard.”

 

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