© Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Valtteri Bottas says he is “not realistically in the championship anymore”, so he will “take one for the team” and “help Lewis with the points” if needed.
Ahead of the Mexican Grand Prix Valtteri Bottas said he is ready to help Lewis Hamilton in his quest for his record-breaking eighth championship if needed.
“If there’s an opportunity for me to help Lewis with the points, like stealing points from Max, then I’ll do it because I’m not realistically in the championship anymore,” the Finn said.
“I’m a team player and I’ll take one for the team if needed, but my first priority is always to try and win.”
As for Mercedes’ current state when it comes to the championship fight, Bottas is optimistic.
“Everyone is motivated, we know we’re in a close fight and we can’t do any mistakes – we can’t afford them.
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“But at the same time I feel that everyone is still keeping the nerves in good shape and everything seems under control.
“There’s obviously excitement because every point matters so much but motivated is the word I’d say sums up every team member.”
Although the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez has historically favoured Red Bull, the Finn says Mercedes will be “in a better place” this year.
“For Mexico, we know it’s been usually a bit of a weakness for us. And it feels like quite a big chunk [of that] has been, in the recent years, from the power unit with high altitude.
“But I think we’ve been able to optimise a lot since, so I would expect us to be in better place than in the recent years,” Valtteri concluded.
