F1 driver Valtteri Bottas takes a dig at Mercedes, stressing the constant pressure he received throughout his time with the team.
Despite winning ten races and garnering 56 podiums for Mercedes, Bottas is set to leave the team, transferring to Alfa Romeo. The young and talented George Russell will receive Bottas' seat next season.
Often playing as second fiddle to seven-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton, Bottas reflects and believes that he had a successful stint with a world-class team.
Via ESPN
“I'm proud, and definitely knowing that I'm going to another team, I've had time to reflect every now and then on the situation because you know we've achieved some pretty special things together,”
“I can look in the mirror. I tried, I gave it everything I had.”
However, driving for such a successful F1 team with huge expectations may have driven Bottas mad, at least for a while. There was constant talk regarding the fin's future with the team. Eventually, his time would come to an end.
“You obviously try to convince yourself that it’s not affecting you and you try to block any negative thoughts, but when there’s a lot of noise – which can happen in Formula 1 – for sure, it’s not helping,” Bottas said. “There is a distraction, but you try to minimize the distraction. Yes, I think there’s been a few times I’ve not really been in an easy situation with the contracts and with extra talk and noise.
“Toto [Wolff, Team Principal] thinks that pressure is good for me… I agree, pressure for a certain length of time is good and it can get more out of you, but if you have pressure contractually for nine years of your Formula 1 career, year by year, it starts to eat you from inside, you know?”
Bottas is helping his team maintain their slim one-point lead over Red Bull to win the F1 constructor championship— hoping for a successful exit to his eventful career with Mercedes with just four races to go.
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