It’s been a difficult season for Valtteri Bottas, who has not won a race in 2018 and has generally not been competitive in the latter half of the season.
He has finished second on seven occasions but has only managed 5th in the last three races as his form has dropped off.
He did win the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last year, which was his third of 2017, but he has not been on the same form so far this year.
There is a danger that Bottas could be relegated to fifth in the drivers’ standings with the in-form Max Verstappen only three points behind him.
Bottas believes that it has been his toughest season in the sport, even tougher than his first season with Williams when he only managed four points, and said: “For sure the first season was tough but you cannot compare because with Williams, in 2013, we were fighting at the back but I felt that I did the most that I could do.
“Then the few seasons afterwards were definitively better than this one.
“Last year was quite different from this year: it was my first year with the team, the first year alongside Lewis and I remember this time last year I was disappointed that I hadn’t met my targets.
“But now, when I look back, at least I had won some races, got some poles. Now, at this point, at this very moment, I’m even more disappointed, for sure. Yes, this has been my worst season, so far.”
Bottas was asked to allow Lewis Hamilton past him in Russia, a race he would most likely have won. There was also other instances where he missed out on a good haul of points due to bad luck.
He added: “I think there’s been quite a few good races but things just haven’t gone my way.
“I would say that, in general, I’ve been unlucky this year, but there’s more than that. I know for a fact that I’ve performed better compared to last year, that’s the only thing that matters after a season like this.
“You just have to learn and try to forget, but this is definitively a season that will make me a tougher person and driver for the future.”
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