Valtteri Bottas, The Driver With An Impossible Dream.

It's Friday afternoon and I have just finished watching Episode 3 of the New Season of Netflix's 'Drive To Survive', and a thought has suddenly sprung in my mind, has Valtteri Bottas got the 'impossible job' in Formula 1?

At the beginning of this particular DTS Episode it is all about Valtteri discussing whether he is the 'Number 2' at Mercedes. This has been a question that has hovered around Valtteri since he first took the seat back in 2017. It was a late signing by Mercedes and a signing they never planned to make. It all came about after Nico Rosberg's shock announcement of immediate retirement after winning the 2016 World Championship after 3 years of all-out war with Lewis Hamilton for the title. It gave Valtteri the opportunity of a life time, a seat in the best car on the grid. An opportunity it feels he has never quite fully grasped with both hands as much as he should.

In 2017, it started promising in Australia for Valtteri as he pressed Hamilton hard towards the end of the race and it was a good start for the Finnish driver. Next up in China there was a minor slipup in the mixed conditions of Shanghai as he spun under the safety car throwing away any opportunity of a race win.

In his 3rd race he got his first Pole Position for Mercedes but couldn't convert it into a win. But it was Round 4 in Russia when Bottas announced himself taking a stunning win after a superb race start jumping Vettel and Raikkonen and then showed fantastic composure to hold off Vettel in the final stages, it was looking all up for Valtteri and he looked the real deal...

After a few average races for Bottas as Ferrari picked up pace, we arrive in Austria. Bottas snatches Pole and then produces probably one of the greatest race starts of all time with an incredible 0.2 reaction time to leave the rest of the pack clambering behind. Vettel called his race start "Inhuman".

This was as good as it got for Valtteri in 2017 until the final race of the season when he picked up his 3rd race victory in Abu Dhabi. It was a solid first year for Valtteri who was never seen to have enough in him to defeat the mighty powers of Sebastian Vettel and eventual Champion and teammate Lewis Hamilton. The second half of the season was fairly consistent when you look at the stats, but his pace was nowhere compared to Lewis and Seb who took over as the title fight reached its climax with Hamilton going into overdrive in terms of winning races and a collapse of Ferraris title challenge between Singapore and Japan, this probably lead to Valtteri almost taking the back seat whilst all the chaos unfolded and allowed Hamilton to grab the bull by the horns.

For me, this season was arguably his best overall for consistency. We now move onto probably his darkest season...2018.

My word, Bottas had a tough tough season in 2018. Once again in the best car on the grid but with an even fiercer challenge from the Scuderia Ferrari team, this time Valtteri mentally collapsed with zero wins in the whole of 2018. But it's not quite that simple...

We begin in Australia. A big crash in Qualifying results in a grid drop limiting him to only P8 in the race. Bottas then bounced back in Bahrain as he pushed Vettel right to the end with fresher tires but he couldn't quite get the job done. One more lap in Bahrain and Bottas would've passed Vettel, but he was met with fierce criticism for not risking enough in this moment. He played it too safe and even though he finished 2nd and beat Hamilton, he was disappointed, as he probably should've won. We then move on to China where Ferrari are on top until Bottas and Mercedes produce a superb undercut to jump Vettel before a safety car is deployed. Both Mercedes and Ferrari made huge errors by not pitting as the safety car came out and Red Bull pounced. Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen were flying on fresher and softer rubber and then late on in the race with only a few laps to go, he was passed by Ricciardo via a stunning late move down the inside into the hairpin at the end of the first sector. It was once again a bitter pill to swallow for Bottas.

He should've won, but bad luck meant it was taken away. But this was nothing compared to what was to come in the next race...

We are deep into the Azerbaijan GP, Seb Vettel leads the way and it looks like a nailed on win for Ferrari. However the two Red Bulls take each other out and the safety car is deployed. Mercedes exploits this and pit Bottas and they jump the German to take the lead with only a few laps left.

The safety car pulls in and Vettel lunges up the inside into T1 and locks up after braking too late almost sending him into the barrier as he drops down to 4th. 3 Laps to go, the win looks totally nailed on for Bottas with no real threat from behind.

But then disaster...

A small piece of front wing rips into the rear right tyre of Bottas's car and puts him out of the race. 3 Laps away from 25 points in the bag and he comes away with nothing. Understandably he was absolutely devastated by this, and I personally think it then set the tone for the rest of his season. His teammate Hamilton had lucked into a win and Valtteri had gone from 3 laps away from taking the lead of the championship to in the end dropping points to his rivals.

By round 4 he could've won 3 out of the 4 races which I personally find mind-blowing. His career would have been on a totally different path.

Valtteri had to wait until another chaotic race for his next opportunity, which was the German GP. But this time, luck had nothing to do with it...

In a chaotic race which is mainly remembered for Sebastian Vettel stuffing his Ferrari into the barriers (sorry for reminding you Ferrari fans) in the arena section of Hockenheim, Bottas suddenly was in the lead again as the rain hit the track causing total madness. That is for the matter of a few corners until Mercedes didn't have his tyres ready and he lost the lead to guess who? Mr. Lucky Lewis Hamilton, who had found himself leading the race after starting in 14th.

Lewis had found himself leading the race having not pitted under the safety car that had came out due to Vettel's crash, luck or skill? You tell me. However the issue for Hamilton here was that he wasn't on fresh rubber like Bottas and once the safety car pulled in, let the battle commence. In the words of Martin Brundle:

"Is he going to have a go at Hamilton? He is indeed, he's going steaming down the outside! What's Hamilton going to do about that?!"

It was a one of those moments any non-Hamilton fan was saying "Go on Valtteri". This is what most wanted, it was out of nowhere. It was amazing to watch the two Mercedes finally go head to head after no battles since 2016, when there was no team orders. Until two corners later, an F1 'meme' was born...

James Vowles (Mercedes Chief Strategist): "Valtteri its James, please hold position. I'm sorry."

In a race where it once again could've been another race win for Valtteri. He was denied by no fault of his own. A real tough one to swallow for the Finnish driver and due to Championship circumstances, the wingman nickname for Bottas was created by fans and even team boss Toto Wolff used it in an interview with the press...Ouch.

We then progress to Russia. This for me was the worst and most difficult moment for Bottas in his F1 career, and he agrees...

Valtteri was on Pole, he had led every lap of the race. But after Hamilton passed Vettel, Mercedes ordered Bottas to let Hamilton pass him to win the race. A serious example of 'salt in the wounds' for any F1 driver, but this was not the first time Mercedes had done team orders against Bottas, like I have said earlier. For the sake of 7pts, this was totally unnecessary from the silver arrows. As we now know from the 'Drive to Survive' series. This was the moment Bottas in his words almost wanted to quit the sport.

Valtteri Bottas on 'Drive To Survive': "Yeah that was tough to accept. I was pretty angry. Honestly I was thinking why do I do this. I was even thinking of quitting, giving up (F1)."

If you look back to the social media posts back when this race happened, the mocking of Bottas being Hamilton's wingman was on another level. In some ways I can see some peoples argument of that Valtteri should've just ignored team orders. This has been the element that Bottas has been missing in his racing, the ruthlessness and selfishness to go against the team. But this is very easy for anyone to say from the outside.

He is in the best car on the grid and has won 4 Constructors titles in the last 4 years, why would you go against your team and risk being thrown out of a dream position that any F1 driver would want. But the truth is, every F1 drivers dream is the Drivers Title, and after the added context of this incident from this episode of DTS. I do genuinely feel sorry for Valtteri, he is in a very difficult position in terms of achieving his dream. Mercedes will always want Hamilton to win races and titles for them and if Bottas tries to break that up and upset the camp, which is what you need to do to beat Hamilton in the same car as proven by Rosberg and Button, then you have the risk of being thrown out of the team all together.

We then fast forward to 2019 and 2020 where Bottas, you could argue, turned things around. Bottas dominated the 2019 Australian GP to win by a country mile and the new bearded Bottas 2.0 was born according to fans and pundits alike. Unfortunately for Valtteri, despite having a far better car than any other team on the grid, it was just flashes of brilliance in 2019. He cruised to victory in Baku after 1 year earlier suffering a cruel puncture on the last lap but he then had to wait until the Japanese GP deep into the second half of the season to then pick up his next 1st place trophy. Similar to his win at Austria in 2017, Bottas made a fantastic start after Ferrari locked out the front row and then went on to absolutely dominate the race. The only other win for Bottas in 2019 was the US GP where we witnessed the only time ever he has beaten Hamilton in wheel to wheel action all be it on much fresher tires. A moment that was overshadowed and completely forgotten about due to the small factor of Lewis Hamilton sealing his 6th World Championship.

It was the same situation in 2020 where he won the first race of the season as well after an incident packed race at Austria with teammate Lewis Hamilton not even finishing on the podium after being given a 5 second post-race time penalty for colliding with Red Bull's Alex Albon. Big points gained for Bottas over Hamilton, which doesn't happen a lot, however this advantage over Hamilton was totally wiped out by the next two races as Bottas struggled to even finish 2nd in the Styrian GP having to pass Max Verstappen late on and he was even beaten by Verstappen in round 3 as Bottas was nowhere in terms of pace during the Hungarian GP compared to Hamilton. Valtteri had to wait 8 races after his win in Austria for his next which came at his personal favorite track, Sochi (Russian GP). This race was covered by Netflix in S3 of their F1 Series 'Drive To Survive' and it showed a real good view of inside Valtteri's mind...

In this particular episode of 'DTS' we begin in a cold, misty, snow covered Finland where Valtteri is getting ready for the upcoming 2020 season. Most drivers would be sun bathing in the middle east or streaming video games on Twitch during the off-season these days. But not Valtteri, he wanted to be in his Homeland, in Finland, refreshing and clearing his mind. It's an interesting approach and an approach I think the media and F1 fans alike should respect. Later in the episode shows the very reason why this approach was probably required for Bottas. In a scene where he is having breakfast with his relatively new girlfriend Tiffany Cromwell, Valtteri discusses the hate he had received...

edynelson_ on Instagram: "C'mon, you think at this point anyone will believe you're there to win? You will be a good boy and do what they tell you and let Lulu take the win as always"

"Lewis will still beat you and your still s**t."

Valtteri responds with "If I had your mentality I would have given up many times,"

And this is a key sentence by Valtteri, as we now know, back in 2018 that seems like that was the way he thought. But he knew he had to change his mentality to change as a driver, so its a fascinating insight into the life of an F1 driver and how in the modern day world they are almost more exposed than ever before to hate from supposed fans of F1. Obviously everyone is entitled to their own opinion but it's most definitely an issue that will need to be addressed sooner rather than later.

This scene from 'DTS' also shows the kind of support that his girlfriend Tiffany Cromwell has given him in the last year since they have been in a relationship. Tiffany herself is a well established professional cyclists and is at the top of her game in that sport. So I would imagine the combination of them both being at the very top of there sports provides a real boost in mentality for them both as they will both be on the same page when it comes to the massively important mental aspect of sport.

Back to the on-track action. In qualifying Bottas deliberately gave Red Bulls Max Verstappen a 'tow' down the long main straight at Sochi so then he would out qualify him and demote Bottas to 3rd on the grid. As documented by 'DTS', Mercedes and mainly team principal Toto Wolff was infuriated by this as it had denied a 1-2 in qualifying for the team. However, Valtteri was completely fine with this as he knew from previous Russian GPs that starting on the front row is not good for the long run down into turn 1. It worked for Bottas as he made another fantastic start to the race and jumped Verstappen, however he didn't quite get past Hamilton. Luckily for Valtteri in the end that didn't matter as Hamilton received a 10 Second time penalty for performing a practice start 'on track' before the race had even started. Bottas then cruised to the race win crushing the opposition. But again, history repeated itself and this was as good as it got for the Flying Finn in 2020...

The season was once again going to become another missed opportunity as Hamilton cruised to his 7th World Championship to equal the great Michael Schumacher's record. But an unexpected problem for Valtteri then emerged at the penultimate round of the season, and he goes by the name of George Russell...

After Lewis Hamilton had unfortunately tested positive for Covid-19 after the Bahrain GP, it presented the opportunity that every F1 driver dreams of, a seat in the best car on the grid. The initial talk was that Mercedes were going to use their reserve driver Stoffel Vandoorne to fill in for the 7x World Champion, however surprisingly they went for the highly rated George Russell who is part of the Mercedes team but has been racing for Williams since 2019 to build his experience. This was a bold move by Mercedes but one that deserved praise. Not that they would've said this, but it was very much a showdown for Bottas, if he was beaten badly by George then his seat in the Mercedes was all of a sudden in serious danger...

In qualifying for the Shakir GP it was less than a tenth between George and Valtteri, which although Valtteri still claimed pole, it was astonishing how close it was between the two considering George had jumped into that car, which didn't fit him, and instantly was right up there with Bottas.

The race got underway and instantly George Russell took the lead into turn 1 after getting a better launch off the grid than the Fin. There was then a safety car due to a crash between Leclerc, Perez and Verstappen and at the restart Bottas was even passed by Sainz in the McLaren, however he was fortunate Carlos got on the gravel in the next corner and Valtteri regained the position. For the next section of the race it was actually George Russell who was clear and ahead at the front of the race and Bottas didn't seem to have an answer. Then all sorts of chaos erupted as a safety car was deployed with the race nearing the end and both Mercedes drivers were called into the pits at the same time for new tires. Just like in Germany 2019, Mercedes got this double-stack terribly wrong and it took an incredible 30 seconds for the pit crew to send Bottas back out and to make matters worse for them Russell even had Bottas's tires on, which is borderline laughable. The race got back underway and straight away Russell passed Bottas in an amazing move round the outside and made plenty of viewers jaws drop to the floor.

Unfortunately for George he picked up a slow puncture a matter of laps later and he dropped behind Bottas who meanwhile was being picked off by car after car as he was on the ropes due to his old tires. So in the end, Valtteri finished ahead, but looked a beaten man considering the performance Russell put in and really added another bad moment to the career of Valtteri Bottas.

So where now for Bottas? Its most definitely become make or break time for Valtteri. Another average season and he will be out of the team and Russell will replace him, 100%. The comfortable position of being the 'wingman' to Hamilton in Mercedes eyes is starting to fizzle out. If Hamilton retires, personally I think this changes nothing. Valtteri would have been at the team for 5 years by the end of this season which is when his contract expires and is there any reason for them to extend that again?

Bottas must be selfish this season. His dream is to be World Champion, and this dream is looking impossible right now with Hamilton still beating him every season and all the young talent coming through. His mindset every time he rocks up to Russia must be applied for every race in 2021 or unfortunately, it could be curtains for his career at Mercedes and maybe even in the Sport...

By Cameron Hall

If you have enjoyed this piece and prefer this length of article, feel free to leave a comment below!