Brawn: "It's now a mental battle for Bottas"

Valtteri Bottas has been trying to beat Lewis Hamilton in the battle for the title for a couple of years, but every time the Finn falls short of the almost flawless Briton. Once again, Hamilton is way ahead of Bottas and it must be very strange for the six-time champion not to add a seventh title to his resume this year. A bitter pill for Bottas to swallow, because once again he doesn't seem to succeed.

He should have won

In his column on Formula1.com Ross Brawn writes about the situation Bottas is in right now. Where the Finn was doing very well at Mugello at one point, he lost the lead to Hamilton again. The result was yet another place on the podium next to Hamilton, with fewer points.

"Valtteri Bottas will leave Tuscany believing he should have a victory trophy in his possession, the Finn was in tremendous shape after snatching the lead from Lewis Hamilton. But he let the win slip through his fingers and he must be struggling to come to terms with another defeat to the reigning world champion."

"This one will hurt and will leave him asking himself – what does he need to do to get the better of his teammate? He’s still in the championship hunt, of course, but as every race goes by, his chances are slipping away," Bottas hopes he can find something to defy Hamilton, but if he can...

"It’s now a mental battle because he has the speed. But Lewis is relentless, takes every opportunity and rarely gives one to his opposition." And that is exactly why Hamilton is at the top of the Championship, no doubt to the frustration of Bottas who sees the gap growing more and more.