Poll: Does Bottas deserve his Mercedes seat? - You do not have permission to vote in this poll.
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Bottas, does he deserve his Mercedes seat?
#31

Morini, firstly by saying Lewis starts slow, and I think you know this is what I was saying, Lewis rarely starts at peak Lewis over the first 4 or 5 races. He's very rarely at his best, that's not to say he's slow, Lewis being 5% or whatever below peak Lewis is still quicker than most operating at their peak. Plus it's not a question of motivation. You take something like the TDF and cycling in general, cyclists aim to 'peak' when it is important and stay in touch before their peak, and try to maintain the peak as long as they can. I think Lewis has been doing the same thing.
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#32

Hard not to like him isn't it. Wink

Bottas: I’m going to beat everyone this year.

A despondent Bottas returned home to Finland, drank a bit, licked his wounds, and says he is now ready for the fight.

“I got to Finland, got properly smashed a few times"

“When I came back I decided that I’m going to beat everyone this year.”

Asked whether he believes he can win this year’s World title, he replied: “Yes, that is my aim and I feel I can do it.
“That’s the goal but how to get there, that’s going to be hard work.”

The 29-year-old added that while last season had been a “tough, quite tough”, it not only “made me tougher” but he learned valuable lessons.
“I feel it’s a nice fresh start.

“I’ve learned that the first half of the season is always very important.

“I started the year pretty well, just sometimes lost some points because of different things.

“I’m ready to go for it and try to be a better me.”

"When a man holds you round the throat, I don't think he has come to apologise" 
Ayrton Senna on Nigel Mansell, SPA 1987.   Angel
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#33

Interesting weekend at the Shanghai 2019 GP so far. As you all probably know, I've always rated Bottas as a very quick driver, he has been the one to watch through practice and qualy this weekend. Seems to have a point to prove this year and he has already shown he is easily capable of putting in quick low fuel runs then backing it up by leading from the front (Melbourne). So, I feel justified in my previous stance that he is worthy of a top team. Certainly has the speed when it matters in qualifying. I know everyone (myself included) want to see Ocon in a F1 car, but Bottas isn't the one to move over at this point in proceedings.

In my opinion he has WDC potential if he can sustain this level of performance right through the season. For me there is one big question mark remaining - does he have a real racers mentality? Will he fight for every point on the track? There's a mindset for leading from the front and a slightly different mindset for maximising your race result when the win isn't on. I hope he can prove me wrong, but I've yet to see Valterri show classy race craft in attack on a Sunday. Seen him defend his position well occasionally but, so far he hasn't really shown the ability to go and take a win from behind.

Am I wrong?
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#34

Just lacking that bit of ruthlessness? I don't think you're wrong, you're spot on. He's self proclaimed to have that mind set this year.
What I think we need to see is it consistently through the year, he always seems to run well at the first fly aways, last year he drove very well, even after his Melbourne qaully mistake. Capitalising on strategy to undercut a few times, then having the pace to maintain the leads, until some outside force changed the result.
But, come the European season, he drops back, the +0.3 thats just common against Lewis . So Spain will be crucial to see if he has changed the mindset, and maintain solid running and mentality.

My previous sig was obsolete, McLaren ain't disappointing Heshy no more.
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#35

(13-04-2019, 09:37 PM)Monster Hesh Wrote:  Just lacking that bit of ruthlessness? I don't think you're wrong, you're spot on. He's self proclaimed to have that mind set this year.
What I think we need to see is it consistently through the year, he always seems to run well at the first fly aways, last year he drove very well, even after his Melbourne qaully mistake. Capitalising on strategy to undercut a few times, then having the pace to maintain the leads, until some outside force changed the result.
But, come the European season, he drops back, the +0.3 thats just common against Lewis . So Spain will be crucial to see if he has changed the mindset, and maintain solid running and mentality.

Yep, agree with all of that. But to convince me he has that "little bit extra" required of WDC's I want to see him attacking on the track and passing for positon. That is the only thing he's been lacking for me, even pre Mercedes he didn't show a lot of that.

I don't think it's about ruthlessness actually, not every driver has the ability to excel in wheel to wheel combat. Nico Rosberg could certainly drag a fast time out of the car, but he was no racer (by my definition anyway).
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#36

I always stated that Bottas is not a top ten driver. Seems most of us agree that the guy is fast, but misses that race craft to excel in battles (Rosberg had more of that, though still is not a Schumacher of course).

Don't know what the plan is at Mercedes. The car and team is still good enough to compensate Bottas his shortcomings and I see them again take both championships this year. Meanwhile, there is no tension between the two drivers.
Long term, they want a new Hamilton and it will not be Bottas. Ocon seems the obvious choice, but those rumours of Mercedes keeping in touch with Verstappen keep getting back. Think it would be the best place for Verstappen, as well as the best driver for the future for Mercedes (I see Leclerc and Verstappen as the two top drivers for future, would be nice Ferrari vs Mercedes battle). Would they put Ocon and Verstappen together?
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#37

(14-04-2019, 03:01 PM)Antilochos Wrote:  I always stated that Bottas is not a top ten driver.

Don't know about that. I certainly think he's in the top ten of the current grid. He was always a very good qualifier, even at Williams he was regularly quicker than Massa. Last year in a lot of races he went backwards though and that I think is because he lacks racer instinct.

He seems to have a new attitude this year. Jody questions his stamina for a season long battle with Hamilton, I think it will take a monumental effort from him to come out on top. Today he lost the win at the start (similar to Ham at Melbourne) so no need to beat himself up about it. I did expect more racing at this circuit though, disappointing and down to them all needing to babysit front tyres I reckon.

Myself, I think VB is potentially quicker than Rosberg was.
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#38

I as well don't see Bottas keeping it up with Hamilton. With Hamilton, he enjoys the battle and that makes it easier to keep up. For Bottas (just like with Rosberg), the battle takes a big toll out of them. I rate Rosberg higher than Bottas and see no way for Bottas to win that battle.

When I say top ten driver, I mean a complete driver, not just fast in qualifying. If I put a top ten together at this moment, it would be something like this:
1. Hamilton
2. Verstappen
3. Ricciardo
4. Vettel
5. Leclerc
6. Raikkonen
7. Hulkenberg
8. Ocon
9. Grosjean
10. Perez
This may vary a bit and for sure will over the next couple years to come (expect Verstappen to grow even more, just like I expect Leclerc and maybe Ocon to rise up a bit more). Bottas, he could be in there in stead of Grosjean, Perez or even Ocon. But all the others I'm pretty sure they will beat him in a team battle.

But that is my take. Maybe Bottas will prove me wrong. I sure hope he will but are afraid he will not...
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#39

I think this sums up Bottas to me. Best wingman on the grid!
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#40

(14-04-2019, 05:03 PM)NeilP Wrote:  I think this sums up Bottas to me. Best wingman on the grid!

That might be the best way to describe the man.
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