Bottas: "Would be silly to learn from your team-mate, especially Hamilton"

Valtteri Bottas might not be picking up F1 titles but the Mercedes driver is certainly learning from the best there is on the grid. Out of any driver, he has the greatest access to the six-time world champion Lewis Hamilton due to their garage share. 

The Finn managed to get much closer to his teammate in the world championship last season, but couldn't hold on as the summer break approached. He stormed out of the blocks and picked up a maximum 26 points in Australia. Obviously, Bottas would have liked more of these results but he feels he's getting closer to his main goal.

"I’d still like to have had more wins, but I feel my qualifying performance and my racing has been better than the year before. I feel – and it’s a fact – that I can still be better. I’m always aiming for that and I’ll try again to be better next season," says Bottas in F1 Racing.

"I’ve learned massive amounts in the past three years and I still keep learning. I think being part of such a great team is the opportunity every driver wants to get, because it allows you also to get to the next level if you work hard, work with the team, and use all the tools you can within the team. You need to keep going your own way but it would be silly to not try and learn from your team-mate, especially when it’s Lewis Hamilton. I always take the opportunity if I can see something he’s doing, whether it’s with the driving or set-up or something. I’m glad it’s very open in our team – we discuss things both ways. It’s a good thing to have him as a team-mate," Bottas added.

Can Bottas hang on to his Mercedes seat?

This seems to be a question which arises at the start of every season now. The 30-year-old somehow always finds the answers by giving Mercedes an excuse to sign his talents for the following year. He managed to keep Esteban Ocon in the garage and eventually push him away towards Renault. Now another Mercedes junior drivers George Russell is impressing and could be given a chance beyond 2020.

Surely this year Bottas will need to be more consistent depending on how long Mercedes want to wait before putting pen to paper. There's also the question as to whether the Mercedes will continue Formula 1 beyond next season.