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'Bottas lacks self-confidence compared to Hamilton and Verstappen'

'Bottas lacks self-confidence compared to Hamilton and Verstappen'

03-05-2021 13:41 Last update: 21:02
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GPblog.com

While Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton have been in the limelight all season, Valtteri Bottas seems to be playing second fiddle again at Mercedes. He did manage to qualify on pole on Saturday in Portugal, but in the race, it became the Max and Lewis show and the Finn is already well behind after only three races.

Self-confidence

Former Formula One driver Sergej Sirotkin analyses at Formule1.nl in his column where he thinks the fault lies with Bottas. "From the outside looking in, I would say Bottas lacks some self-confidence compared to Hamilton and Verstappen. In a fight, you always have factors in the back of your mind. First of all, it costs you time. Not only because you are attacking or defending but also because you are asking more from your tyres."

According to the Russian, Bottas plays it safe too often: "He doesn't have that knife-edge approach, either going in full force or being conservative if he has to. It's always a bit in between with him. Verstappen and Hamilton have much less doubt. They can go into a fight without smoking their tyres, but they can also be conservative and avoid a fight if they have to, only to strike later."

Verstappen vs Hamilton

That Bottas is the least fast of the three is beyond dispute, according to Sirotkin, but between Max and Lewis, it's a different story. "Who was really faster, is still impossible to say. Okay, Max Verstappen had that deleted lap in Q3, but Lewis Hamilton had a super lap in Q2 that was even faster. Verstappen could have been even more involved in the fight for victory, I think. Though with a perfect race he probably wouldn't have won anyway. And that's why Hamilton is as strong as he is."