© Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Despite being beaten in the championship by Lewis Hamilton for four years in a row, Valtteri Bottas says driving alongside the seven-time champion is a great motivation.
There’s no doubt Valtteri Bottas has the toughest job in Formula 1, he is the team-mate of a seven-time F1 champion. The Finn joined Mercedes in 2017, after Nico Rosberg retired from Formula 1.
Since then he tried his best to beat Lewis and win the world title, however as of yet he has been unsuccessful. Despite this, he is still motivated driving alongside statistically the greatest driver in the history of Formula 1.
“Being against Lewis is a great motivation,” Bottas said.
“In terms of numbers, he’s the most successful F1 driver in history, probably. So it’s a great motivation to try and be better than him. It’s not easy, and I’ve had many, many defeats, but I’ve also had wins.”
“On statistics in terms of your pace, it’s getting closer and closer, so that really keeps me going. I wouldn’t want anything easy, in an easy way, so I don’t see that as a negative thing.
“So for sure, people are always going to compare and that’s the nature of this sport, and that’s what it is, but that’s only going to motivate me.”
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However, the Finn admits driving next to such an accomplished driver is also “mentally draining”.
“Being against Lewis, for sure it’s mentally draining because I have to always give a 100 percent every single race weekend then try to be at my best capability every single race weekend.
“But I believe that is the same for every driver if they have that same mindset that they want to perform at their very best.
“It’s a challenge, sure, but it’s also very rewarding when I get the results and when I get to be on top of my game and better than Lewis.
“The feeling, the reward from that always feeds then more for my motivation to do better. And for the future, like next year, it’s not about big things.
“Honestly, if you break every single race weekend into small things, what has been (the) difference, it’s not big things and it’s small things that I need to perfect. There’s no one particular area.
“It’s small things here and there that I will need to nail every single race weekend. I know I have it in me because I’ve been able to win races, so it’s about getting small things together and just build from this year again.
“I’ve been able to progress each year, so I need to keep doing that, keep working hard, and eventually hard work will pay off,” concluded Bottas.
This weekend at the Sakhir Grand Prix, Bottas will have a different task at hand. Due to being diagnosed with COVID-19, Lewis Hamilton has been forced to miss the race and the Finn will go up against Williams’ George Russell, who will fill in for the Briton.
