After two consecutive world championships won by Lewis Hamilton in the 2014-2015 seasons, the domination of the English of the Mercedes was interrupted by his teammate Nico Rosberg, with the same driver surprisingly announcing his retirement from F1 immediately after the 2016 world title celebrations. At that point, Brackley’s team principal, Toto Wolff, chose Valtteri Bottas in the role of replacement for Rosberg, with the Finn who was thus promoted by Williams for the 2017 championship.
The signing of the contract prompted the current Alfa Romeo driver to adopt a new philosophy, so much so as to immediately aim for the victory of the world championship as a primary objective; a goal that will not be achieved in all the years spent in Mercedes, from 2017 to 2021, even with three victories in his first season. These, as explained directly by Bottas in the podcast ‘My big break ‘ on the eve of the Canadian GP, they were then the starting point to renew their finish line in world 2018the one that, on the other hand, will prove to be the most complex of his career so far.
To the microphones of the broadcast, in fact, the number 77 pointed out the difficulties experienced in that period, between a total lack of victories mixed with the 11 successes achieved by Hamilton. These are elements and differences that prompted him to consider leaving F1 at the end of the season: “The only thing I thought when I got into the Mercedes – said Bottas – is that I would have won the championship. I think I was hard enough on myself because it didn’t happen. At that point I thought I would make it next year, but it didn’t happen: it was not easy to accept the situation, also because it is very difficult to beat Lewis when he is at his peak. The last races of 2018 were not fun at all – above all, the team order imposed by the team in the Russian GP, when he left the role of race leader to Hamilton – Lewis was the driver and the dominant person on the team. Everyone looked at him with admiration, and they were close to him. The human mind is strange – he added – I had lost the happiness of living F1, so much so that between 2018 and 2019 I thought for a long time about the will to stay in the Circus. I had put a lot of pressure on myself, and I have been very close to making the decision to retire“.
A choice that, however, did not materialize thanks to a particular moment lived by Bottas in the winter break: “I was walking in a forest in Finland – he recalled – sometimes i like to disappear and hike. It was there that I found the necessary motivations: I told myself to continue, winning the first race of 2019. Now that I think about it, it was a great school for me: I have learned not to be too hard on myself about some things. Looking back, I’m really, really happy that it happened. “
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