Lewis Hamilton Once Almost Sent Valtteri Bottas Into Retirement After “Painful” Experience

After Nico Rosberg decided to leave Mercedes after winning the 2016 title, Mercedes weren’t sure if they can find the German’s perfect replacement who can deliver. But then entered Valtteri Bottas. The man from Williams arrived at the Silver Arrows camp to partner with Lewis Hamilton. In the process, he gave the German team seasons to remember until moving out to Alfa Romeo in 2022. However, there was one occasion when Bottas almost decided to leave F1, and the reason was Lewis Hamilton!

Talking about this, the 33-year-old said on the Motorsport magazine podcast, “At the end of 2018, I almost stopped, it was so close. Just because of the fact that I couldn’t understand and take the fact that I couldn’t beat Lewis in those two years.”

“I put so much pressure on myself. Towards the end of ’18, especially when I started to have the support role in the team, I really couldn’t take it, I really struggled. It was not fun. The last four or five races of ’18 were more painful because you should enjoy F1 and it is pretty cool, but it wasn’t that at all,” concluded the man from Finland.

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Bottas arrived at Mercedes in 2017 and stayed with the team for five seasons. During that time, the 10-time GP winner helped the German team claim five back-to-back constructors’ championships. Not only that, but he also acted as a perfect wingman for his then-teammate Lewis Hamilton.

But the former McLaren driver’s sheer dominance is what made him lose his confidence and this could possibly be one of the reasons why the Finn parted ways with the team after 2021.

What factors might have made Valtteri Bottas have the painful experience?

After Valtteri Bottas’ induction to the Brackley-based team, it was clear that Lewis Hamilton would remain as the number one driver since the team wanted to avoid similar teammate clashes that took place during 2014-2016 seasons between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton.

As the 2017 season ended, Hamilton finished it on top with 363 points, nine wins, 11 pole positions, and 13 podiums, whereas Bottas finished the season in P3 with 305 wins, three wins, four pole positions, and 13 podiums.

In a similar manner, the 2018 season also passed, and that was a very low point in Bottas’ career. As the season ended, Hamilton once again was on top with 408 points, 11 wins, 11 pole positions, and 17 podiums. Compared to him, Bottas ended his season in P5 with 247 points, no wins, two pole positions, and eight podiums.

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The next three seasons had been decent for Valtteri Bottas as he finished right behind the Briton. In 2019, 2020, and 2021 the Finn finished in P2, P2, and P3. However, one thing he couldn’t achieve in his Mercedes career and was to beat the seven-time world champion in the same machinery to get out of his shadow.