Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas feels that the improvements he made in the 2019 F1 season is the step towards being a complete driver.
Experience is key in F1, and for Mercedes’ Bottas, 2019 was another year of developing as a driver and the one where he feels that was a step towards being a more complete driver, especially as he fights his teammate Lewis Hamilton for the title.
The Finn worked hard over the winter to combat his 2018 fall and came back stronger in 2019 where he finished second to Hamilton. As examples, Bottas primarily noted things such as consistency, which he feels he learned to master more this year.
“It’s been a very good year of improvement all around,” said Bottas, when asked by FormulaRapida.net, about his feelings from 2018 to 2019. “Every part of what it takes to be a complete driver, what makes the difference to get the win and the results.
“I just need to continue the progress really with the team, and I’ve been learning a lot about myself, you know, for sure from last year to this year and for all the mistakes from last year. It has been helping me to to be a better driver.
“There have been weekends this year that could have been a lot better, so there are many points we are going to review with the team [in this winter] and find the causes, why the pace was not there of why I did a mistake.
“We will really go deep into details and again I can learn from those and I can’t really point out one thing except of consistency of the season with my performance, what affects that, and that is really into fine details I need to go through with the team.
Bottas states the current time will be crucial for his 2020 F1 title bid. “I managed to find something about my future last winter, so for sure we’ll try that again,” he said. “Off-season time is such an important time to reflect all the things that happened last time.
“It is for us to make sure that we look for the mistakes and they just really gives you lots of time to process everything. The result in Abu Dhabi keeps the good positive momentum that I’ve had through the second part of the year in F1 2019.
“So definitely got to the right place with some good confidence and much-much stronger than 2018. Unlike 2018, I wasn’t sure what to look forward to, but now I now exactly what is happening. I just love racing cars. Nothing is better than that.
“I think the competition is only going to get tougher between the Top 3 teams, so beating Lewis is always going to be hard, but you also need to beat the other drivers. But I know I have the speed in me and the ability so I don’t think I need to make any miracles.
“I need to fine tune everything so let’s say Bottas 2.77 maybe [and not Bottas 3.0 is needed as he referred to all the sayings of Bottas 2.0 ahead of the start of the 2019 F1 season].” It will be a crucial year for the Finn as F1 heads to a big change from 2021.
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The story was written by Duncan Leahy and edited by Darshan Chokhani
