Lewis Hamilton: Valtteri Bottas fires F1 title warning to Mercedes team-mate Bottas, after seeing his faint title hopes fade away by the halfway point this season, did all in his power to help Hamilton win his fifth world title. Mercedes were extremely tactical as they secured the double ahead of Ferrari. The most controversial point came when Silver Arrows boss Toto Wolff told Bottas to let Hamilton past when the Finn was leading the Russian Grand Prix.
Bottas followed team instructions for the rest of the campaign which significantly aided his team-mate. Ferrari chief Maurizio Arrivabene labelled Bottas a “butler” for helping to serve up the Drivers’ Championship to Hamilton. But Bottas insists he has belief that he can challenge his team-mate for the top prize next year. “In this sport, when you’re kind of sometimes thinking of yourself, you’re thinking all kind of different things,” he said.
“The main thing is always the thought that I’ve got to be the strongest, and I’ve never told myself that I’m not good enough to do this. “So… and I still believe [I can win the title], even though I feel disappointed for the season. “I know that I can do much more than what this season proves, and that is the main thing. “I think the fact is, as a team, what we’ve analysed and what we spoke with the guys, qualifying pace and race pace, compared to my team-mate, has been better this year on average, which is positive, but the results haven’t.
“So all those things, we need to analyse why the results weren’t there. . “Sometimes it was unlucky, sometimes were different reasons. But… yeah, I think performance-wise this year was better, but results-wise last year was better.” Bottas’ contract expires in 12 months and with Mercedes youngster Esteban Ocon without a seat the Finn knows he could be fighting for his future.
“This sport is funny, you never know what happens in the future,” he added. “But I think the right mentality for me to approach next year is like I have nothing to lose. “I just want to go for it and drive like I stole it, like it’s my last race, last day ever. “So, yeah, I think that’s it.
That’s a good plan.” NEXT NEWS:Bottas says he will treat each race like his last in 2019. Valtteri Bottas has vowed to adopt a "drive it like he stole it" attitude in Formula 1 next year in a bid to bounce back from a difficult 2018 campaign. Having ended this year without a win, Bottas is open that the season just gone has been hismost disappointing in grand prix racing.
And although well aware that he will be fighting for his F1 future next season, with Esteban Ocon chasing his seat for 2020, Bottas says his plan is to go on an all-out attack to prove how good he is. "This sport is funny, you never know what happens in the future," said the Finn. "But I think the right mentality for me to approach next year is like I have nothing to lose.
"I just want to go for it and drive like I stole it, like it's my last race, last day ever. So, yeah, I think that's it. That's a good plan." Although Bottas' season fell below expectations in terms of results, he says there are some positives that have come out of the campaign. "I think the fact is, as a team, what we've analysed and what we spoke with the guys, qualifying pace and race pace, compared to my teammate, has been better this year on average, which is positive, but the results haven't.
"So all those things, we need to analyse why the results weren't there. Obviously sometimes it was unlucky, sometimes were different reasons. But. yeah, I think performance-wise this year was better, but results-wise last year was better." Bottas is adamant, however, that he has never lost the belief that he has the speed to be able to beat his teammate Lewis Hamilton.
"In this sport, when you're kind of sometimes thinking of yourself, you're thinking all kind of different things," he said. "The main thing is always the thought that I've got to be the strongest, and I've never told myself that I'm not good enough to do this. "So.
and I still believe so, even though I feel disappointed for the season, I know that I can do much more than what this season proves, and that is the main thing." NEXT NEWS:.Verstappen: Shame I never really raced Alonso in F1. Max Verstappen says he regrets his lack of fights with Fernando Alonso following the two-time Formula 1 world champion’s exit from the sport.
Alonso took part in his final planned F1 race at the 2018 season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix before he switches his attentions to attempting to achieve his goal of winning the final leg he needs to complete the Triple Crown of motorsport. Verstappen entered F1 in 2015 and while he has gone on to battle the likes of multiple world champions Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel on his way to recording five grands prix wins at the age of 21, the Dutchman has rarely engaged in an on-track battle with Alonso.
The Red Bull driver’s rapid rise to F1 coincided with Alonso’s switch to join the failed McLaren-Honda project, which left the Spaniard stuck in uncompetitive machinery for four years before deciding to call time on his 17-year-career. “It's a bit of a shame I never really raced against him," Verstappen said.
“Of course he was in F1 while I was there, but I never really had a fight with him because he's always been at the back because of the issues they had. “That's one thing I regret. I've been racing against Seb, Lewis already, and that's been nice. “But never with Fernando, who back in the day when I was watching TV he was always the one really fighting them as well.
“So, it's nice that I raced with him, but I never got to fight against him, which is a shame.” Alonso received a guard of honour ahead of his final race with McLaren and went on to finish just outside of the points in 11th, before carrying out celebratory donuts in a “magical” send-off with Hamilton and Vettel.