It’s Do or Die Time for Valtteri Bottas
If he’s to keep his Mercedes seat for 2022, now is the time to show why he deserves it.
Valtteri Bottas isn’t going to win the Drivers Championship. It won’t happen this year, it won’t happen any year. The Finn just simply isn’t good enough.
However, since joining Mercedes in 2017 he has always done enough to play his part as the role of the number two driver.
But with the emergence of George Russell and the sun setting on Lewis Hamilton’s illustrious Formula One career, it is time for Mercedes to start thinking about the future of their driver partnership.
Since coming back to the sport in 2010, the team has only had four drivers in the team. Securing a seat at the big boys table is tougher than at any other constructor.
In comparison, Red Bull have had eight drivers in the same time and Ferrari have had six.
The only two vacancies at Mercedes have also only come from Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher retiring.
So, swapping drivers is very much uncharted territory for Toto Wolff. Bottas was an ideal stand-in after Rosberg unexpectedly retired during the 2016 post-season. The nine-time race winner was Wolff’s client and he had done a solid job at Williams.
Russell follows a similar path to Bottas. In a much worse Williams team, the Briton has done a respectable job making the car competitive despite never scoring any points with the team. In particular his Saturday pace has been stellar.
But Bottas doesn’t sound like someone getting ready to retire from the sport anytime soon. At only 31-years old, it could easily be argued that he has another four or five years of F1 driving left in his career.
But Russell is 23-years old and not getting any younger. While he wallows at the back of the grid fighting for scraps, his generation of talent such as Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen are off fighting for podiums, race wins and even championships. Russell is in danger of getting left behind.
The two clashed at Imola in the second Grand Prix of the season. Bottas struggled all that weekend and while battling over ninth place the two came together causing both to retire from the race.
Bottas’ 2021 season has been nothing short of underwhelming. One pole position and three third place finishes from the opening five races has left him fourth in the drivers standings, some 58 points off leader Verstappen.
Considering the pace of the Mercedes and the 54 point gap to his own teammate already, that is a poor start to the season.
The Monaco DNF was unfortunate, especially as he looked set to earn 18 points and finish well ahead of Hamilton for the first time this season.
However, the fallout of that pit stop failure doesn’t look good for Bottas’ future at the team.
“Valtteri stopped a little too early. This meant the mechanic had to apply the impact wrench at an angle. The awkward angle damaged the wheel nut and we couldn’t bring it down,” said Wolff following Monaco.
Mercedes have become known for their ‘no-blame culture’ over the last five or so years so to have the team principal come out with such a comment is quite striking.
There were also rumours flying around the paddock following that humiliating display at Imola that Russell’s camp were putting pressure on Mercedes to promote him to the main team.
As a Mercedes Academy Driver, the pathway from Williams to Mercedes is expected to be clear for Russell, but there is only so much time he will want to wait around for that door to open.
To put the pressure off his back, Bottas has to turn things around. Otherwise, the smart move will be to replace him with Russell.
Fortunately for Bottas, three of the upcoming four races are tracks that supposedly suit the Finn. He won at Baku in 2019, was set to win in 2018 before a late puncture ruined his race and he earned a comeback podium in 2017.
Following that is a French Grand Prix and two races at Austria’s Red Bull Ring. The Austrian circuit is one of Bottas’ best, and where he won the opening race of last year’s campaign.
If he can compete with the Red Bulls and Hamilton there, and even pick up a win or two, then maybe the tide will begin to turn back in his favour.
But, on the flip side of that, there is the danger that a failure to perform at his best tracks could seal his fate.
It is do or die time for Bottas. He might not win a Drivers Championship, but Mercedes still need him to perform if they are to beat Red Bull to the Constructors Championship. If he can’t even deliver that much, then the obvious solution will be a change of scenery.
