Valtteri Bottas’ “bad races hurt him” - Salo

There has been much debate as to who will partner Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes in 2020, whether they extend Bottas’ contract or opt for a different driver.

Esteban Ocon has been in the works for the Silver Arrows and is currently their reserve driver and team boss Toto Wolff has said that he will think about what decision he is going to make over the summer break.

Salo feels that Bottas’ timing of a recently bad run of races has come at the wrong time after having started the season strong.

Salo said to Finnish broadcasted MTV: “In F1, you’re only as good as your last race.

“Valtteri has had two really bad races now. He has the speed, but the bad races hurt him.

“The start of his season was good. Valtteri was like a completely different person. But the last few races have been bad again.

“Only the team knows. I don’t even know if a decision has already been taken or not.”