Hill: "Bottas must use psychological tricks to defeat Hamilton"
F1 News
- GPblog.com
In his time with Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton has always dominated the team. But for one year the Brit didn't win the championship. That was in 2016 against Nico Rosberg. The German won the championship in the last race of the season, after Hamilton had tried everything to beat him. Since that season Hamilton has dominated again, but that was also because Valtteri Bottas never really came close.
Through Speedweek, Damon Hill advises Bottas on how to beat Hamilton. "Bottas needs to focus on putting pressure on Lewis. If it requires psychic tricks to unbalance Lewis, then maybe that's what Valtteri should do". Although Hill gives that advice to Bottas, he himself wouldn't know how to apply it.
Any driver can improve
"It certainly wouldn't be my style, and to be honest, I have no idea how to do it. I wouldn't know how to get Lewis out of his zone". The only driver who really succeeded is Rosberg. He got in the way of Lewis so much that it got him out of focus. "Lewis is a very controlled driver when it comes to the World Championship. It's hard to beat him, but it's not impossible."
"I'm sure any driver can improve, it's all about maximizing potential. Unfortunately the same goes for Lewis". So Hill expects Hamilton to improve as well, although he'd rather not see that happen. "When I think about an improved version of him, I already feel sorry for his competitors", concludes Hill.