Valtteri Bottas left the Mercedes team after the end of the 2021 season. The Finn enjoyed five successful years with the team as he helped them win five constructors’ championships from 2017 to 2021. But during his time, he was often criticized for not being able to challenge Hamilton in the races.

Red Bull team advisor Helmut Marko also mentioned the inability of Bottas to overtake while in the midfield. He compared the skills of Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas when clearing the midfield in the races.

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Marko calls Valtteri Bottas a loser in overtaking

As reported by Planetf1, the Austrian called the Finnish driver a loser for not being able to clear the midfield in quick succession. He compared the race skills of Valtteri Bottas to those of Red Bull driver Sergio Pérez and mentioned that the Mexican does not struggle in overtaking like him.

“That’s the big difference between him and Bottas, who is a loser when it comes to overtaking. He’s super-fast, but he can’t overtake in traffic,” said Marko.

While assessing the performance of Perez in the 2021 season, Marko revealed that he would like to see the Mexican driver qualifying in the front of the grid.

“If you start ninth or 11th, all the qualities he [Perez] undoubtedly has in the race won’t help you. He’s driven at the same level as Verstappen in x number of races, [but] it just fizzles out by the time you’re through [the field],” said the Red Bull advisor.

While the Austrian is correct in assessing the Finnish driver’s flaw, it is disrespectful to call him a loser. Bottas has shown his skills while overtaking the midfield in many races this season like the Italian Grand Prix. Admittedly, those instances are few and far between, and one can see where Marko is coming from. What is your take on this? Do you agree with Marko?

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