Bottas is NOT Number 2!
I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again. With Rosberg having played second fiddle to Lewis Hamilton in all but name over his last few years with the Briton at Mercedes, many thought Bottas – a clean and quick driver himself, would also be the Number Two driver to the three-time champion. Hamilton has outdriven Bottas for the most part this year, and is still currently at No. 2 in the championship standings – breaking idol Ayrton Senna’s record along the way.
But with clean lines and some great overtaking, Valtteri Bottas was personally one of my drivers of the day from yesterday’s entirely chaotic race. The Finn was in nineteenth at the end of Lap 1 – and admittedly, red flags, safety cars, shunts and the like helped him – but to get onto the podium from there is no doubt an excellent drive.
Bottas also stayed diplomatic with a strange request from Hamilton to block Vettel – and staying in P3 until the final laps, when he grabbed past Stroll in a clean, cool-headed overtake to finish in second is just an example of his calm nature under fire – something that has been a feature of F1’s most famous Finns, most so the unflappable Mika Hakkinen.
Should team orders not come into play and Bottas is allowed raw, quick racing – even with his own teammate, I think the 27-year-old Bottas could really do well this year.
