Possibly less pressure on Bottas at Mercedes? "We are the hunters now"

Valtteri Bottas's position at Mercedes has been uncertain for years, but each time his contract is extended for one more season. The general expectation is that this will come to an end after 2021. The fact that Mercedes will not start the season as high favourites could help the Finn though.

Mercedes the underdog

In the press conference prior to the GP at Imola the Finn is asked to what extent he feels pressure at the moment. In his answer he doesn't elaborate on his own position, but he does hint that the pressure is less now. As a team they have less to lose.

"We are now the hunters, not the ones to be hunted. I can definitely see the motivation in each team member’s eyes, to try and work as well as we can together to again achieve the goal, we have for this year. I still believe we can catch them. I believe, from the feeling that I’m having in the car, that there’s more to unlock from it. It’s still a fast car with, with huge potential but there’s still plenty of work to do," Bottas was quoted as saying by Motorsport Magazine.

Bottas still sees a chance for something good to happen, especially since he doesn't think the season will be dominated by one team. The competitiveness between the teams on the different tracks differs too much. Moreover all teams are very limited in the upgrades they can put on the car. Therefore, the small differences we saw in Bahrain are likely to persist for the rest of the season.