Under-pressure Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas says 2019 has been his best Formula 1 season, in spite of his recent rocky patch.
Bottas began the season with an emphatic victory in Australia, ending a year-long win-less streak, and backed it up with another win a few rounds later in Azerbaijan.
He has also taken four pole positions, equal with team-mate Lewis Hamilton, and already matching his personal best from 2017.
But he has drifted out of title contention in recent races, struggling to eighth place after a messy first lap in Hungary, having crashed out in Germany.
“The positives are that this has been my best season performance-wise, I keep getting better,” Bottas asserted.
“Qualifying has been good, racing is getting better and better but, obviously [in Hungary] I can’t get a proper read of how good my pace was, because it was a completely different race for me.
“That’s the positive and the negative is that there have still been some races where we lost some opportunities.
“Sometimes it was us, as a team, and sometimes it was me. So we’re still chasing the consistency in getting those results and in the last few races it has not been there.”
Bottas’ recent dip in results has left him 62 points adrift of Hamilton – equivalent to two wins and a fourth place.
“For sure it’s a big gap, much bigger than I would have liked to have, but that’s the gap now and there’s nothing else I can do,” he said.
“There are still many races to go, but obviously it’s a bit of a tricky situation. But that’s how it is.”
