Bottas believes improving his own consistency is "final step" to beating Hamilton

Without a doubt, Bottas made significant improvements in 2019. The Finnish driver managed to finish second in the world championship for the first time in his career despite racing for Mercedes in the last three seasons. His tally of five pole positions matched Hamilton's tally for the year, but the British driver always found a way to improve results on a Saturday. 

In a conversation with Autosport, Bottas insists he is just one step away from beating Hamilton. 

"We're definitely [working] with the engineers and with the team on my development programme. Things we're really focusing on [is] the race week and for my performance that final step I need is consistency. Still more adaptability to different circumstances [as well] but the main thing is minimising mistakes," Bottas said. 

Qualifying mistakes 

Bottas most notably had a crash in the wet German Grand Prix, but he also made a few mistakes in qualifying during the season. In Mexico, Bottas slammed his Mercedes car into the barriers on the final flying lap which dropped his starting position to P6. Bottas claims it's these mistakes which are costing him important ground in the championship fight. 

"There were some qualifying sessions where I made mistakes and that compromised the Sunday and then there was some races where I made mistakes, for example, Hockenheim, I lost a big chunk of points there so [it's about] trying to get rid of those. There's still a lot I feel I can improve. It's fine details here and there, a lot related to driving style and tyre management. But it's a whole lot better than last year. Minimising those mistakes, being able to find [the right] mental state that [means] I will be able to perform at my best every single weekend - that's the tricky part. Like in any sport," Bottas added.