Bottas Acknowledges Five-Year Denial in Face-Off with Hamilton at Mercedes F1

Valtteri Bottas admits a five-year denial of confrontation with Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes in Formula 1.

Finn Valtteri Bottas has spoken openly about his difficult experience battling Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes for five years. In an interview with Motorsport.com, he shared that in order to continue competing with his teammate, he had to be in a state of denial.

“You have to deny,” Bottas said. “I was in denial for almost five years because every year I wanted to come back into the season and fight for the title, and I needed to believe in myself.”

Bottas added that it was only in Mercedes’ final season, in 2021, when the team made room for the promotion of young driver George Russell from Williams, that he was able to come to terms with the fact that he lost in a personal battle.

“It wasn’t until I knew I was leaving the team that I noticed I was more relaxed about certain things,” he continued. “So, of course, in your career, you go through moments like that.”

“With Lewis, I was only able to admit to myself in the last year that in equal cars over a full season, I really found it difficult to beat him, and he’s probably better than me in some areas. As a driver, it’s hard to admit that to yourself.”

Bottas suggested that Sergio Perez could now be going through a similar experience against dominant teammate and three-time world champion Max Verstappen.

Asked whether the Mercedes team needed to constantly remind him that he could beat Hamilton, he replied, “No, these were open meetings. It’s all based on facts and what they see through the data. There was an average difference in qualifying or race pace. Nothing was evaded.”

“I have no regrets because it was a difficult situation for me because I was on a one-year athe title, I needed to be buried with this team. “If I started acting like a bully, it would be easy to fire me. You could always find someone else.”