Bottas: "I want to prove that I'm more than just second driver"

The third season of Drive to Survive has been released on Netflix, and this time it gives a behind-the-scenes look at the 2020 Formula One season.

Something that is clear to everyone is that Valtteri Bottas is second in command at Mercedes. However, the team itself continues to firmly deny it, even though they themselves regularly hint at it. Bottas himself doesn't want to get into that either, saying in the documentary that he even considered quitting after the infamous team orders during the 2018 Russian Grand Prix.

'Valtteri, it's James...'

Bottas did have to give way to teammate Lewis Hamilton on many occasions, but Russia 2018 was a low point for him. Hamilton and Vettel were competing for the world title, but Bottas was leading the race. Mercedes didn't want to let the extra points go by Hamilton and summoned Bottas to pull over for him, which Bottas then complied with.

However, Bottas was not happy afterwards, especially after the statements of Toto Wolff, who called him 'the perfect wingman'. "That was a tough race. I found it hard to accept and was very angry. I thought, 'Why am I doing this?' and thought about quitting. After the race I said I wouldn't do it again," Bottas said.

He would like nothing more than to get rid of his reputation as the second placed driver, although he admits that even team staff regularly wonder if they should treat their drivers equally. "If your teammate wins and you come second, it feels like you lose. I know I have been second in the past, but I want to prove that I am more than number two. Most wouldn't admit it, but the team maybe subconsciously has a number one and two," Bottas said.