Motorsport Week
  • Formula 1
    • Formula 1 Calendar
    • Team/Driver Line-Up
    • Championship Standings
    • Quali/Race Results
  • Formula E
    • Championship Standings
    • Formula E Calendar
  • WRC
    • WRC Calendar
    • Championship Standings
  • MotoGP
    • MotoGP Calendar
    • Team/Rider Line-Up
    • Championship Standings
  • IndyCar
    • IndyCar Calendar
    • Championship Standings
  • WEC
    • WEC Calendar
  • More
    • IMSA
    • Formula 2
    • Formula 3
    • NASCAR
    • DTM
    • WSeries
    • Extreme E
    • Dakar
    • Technical Insight
    • Galleries
    • About/Contact
    • Privacy Policy
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • Register
  • Formula 1
    • Formula 1 Calendar
    • Team/Driver Line-Up
    • Championship Standings
    • Quali/Race Results
  • Formula E
    • Championship Standings
    • Formula E Calendar
  • WRC
    • WRC Calendar
    • Championship Standings
  • MotoGP
    • MotoGP Calendar
    • Team/Rider Line-Up
    • Championship Standings
  • IndyCar
    • IndyCar Calendar
    • Championship Standings
  • WEC
    • WEC Calendar
  • More
    • IMSA
    • Formula 2
    • Formula 3
    • NASCAR
    • DTM
    • WSeries
    • Extreme E
    • Dakar
    • Technical Insight
    • Galleries
    • About/Contact
    • Privacy Policy
No Result
View All Result
Motorsport Week
Home Single Seater Formula 1

Hamilton: Points gap doesn’t reflect Bottas’ ability

by Phillip Horton
2 months ago
1
Hamilton: Points gap doesn’t reflect Bottas’ ability

(L to R): Valtteri Bottas (FIN) Mercedes AMG F1 and team mate Lewis Hamilton (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1 in the FIA Press Conference. Bahrain Grand Prix, Thursday 26th November 2020. Sakhir, Bahrain. FIA Pool Image for Editorial Use Only

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

World Champion Lewis Hamilton says his points advantage over Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas is not reflective of the Finn’s skillset.

Hamilton sealed the 2020 title, his seventh overall and fourth in succession, with victory at the most recent race, held at Turkey’s Istanbul Park circuit.

It left Hamilton 110 points clear of Bottas with only 78 still up for grabs across the remaining three events.

Hamilton is on course to finish with his largest margin over his nearest opponent and the biggest since Sebastian Vettel ended the 2013 season 155 points clear of Fernando Alonso.

But Hamilton believes the current gap between the Mercedes drivers has been inflated by Bottas suffering more race-limiting misfortune through 2020.

“Naturally Valtteri has been getting stronger and stronger each year and the media have commented on Valtteri 2.0 etc and every year you can see him grafting and chipping away trying to raise the bar in so many different areas,” said Hamilton.

“You’ve seen this year that, while yes the points gap is what it is, if you look in a lot of the qualifying [sessions] it was the smallest of margins.

“So closing the gap in qualifying, as he has done this year, has made it quite challenging — it already did last year, but I would say more so this year.

“In race trim, naturally, you can see that the consistency I’ve had this year is what’s made the difference.

“But if you look on the race weekends it was so close, but of course there is a points gap of seven points [between first and second] and if you have that consistently over a period of time … Valtteri was also unfortunate with reliability issues, so that makes the gap look even bigger than it is.”

Hamilton also feels that Bottas, who has already been retained by Mercedes for 2021, is underappreciated by external observers.

“People need to give Valtteri his due respect,” said Hamilton. “You’ve got to remember who he is driving up against, it’s not easy being my team-mate, but he comes in weekend-in, weekend-out never moaning or complaining about how the car is.

“It is always that he says he has to do a better job, and I don’t know another driver who does that here.

“I think that’s something we have in common, we come into these weekends with a fresh head and mentally he is one of the strongest drivers here.”

Tags: BahrainGPbottasF1
Share481Tweet301Share120

Related Posts

Button: Williams’ new owners ‘not afraid of change’
Formula 1

Button: Williams’ new owners ‘not afraid of change’

2 hours ago
F1 champion Button joins Williams as senior advisor
Formula 1

F1 champion Button joins Williams as senior advisor

4 hours ago
Spanish broadcaster Movistar+ reaches deal to show F1 on DAZN
Formula 1

Spanish broadcaster Movistar+ reaches deal to show F1 on DAZN

6 hours ago
Load More

Comments 1

  1. ronthedog says:
    2 months ago

    This bullshine is all about inflating the value of his own performances.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Jordan: ‘If I were in charge, I’d show Hamilton the door’

Jordan: ‘If I were in charge, I’d show Hamilton the door’

January 17, 2021
Technical Insight: How Ferrari intends to fight back in 2021

Technical Insight: How Ferrari intends to fight back in 2021

January 15, 2021
Leclerc says qualifying pace ‘quite promising’ for Ferrari

Technical Insight: Why Ferrari’s new ‘superfast’ Power Unit might not be enough

December 23, 2020
Jordan: ‘If I were in charge, I’d show Hamilton the door’

Jordan: ‘If I were in charge, I’d show Hamilton the door’

6
Bottas fastest as Formula 1’s Portuguese GP action begins

Bottas: ‘I’m not Rosberg, I do my talking on track and race fair’

4
Mercedes F1 racer Bottas takes sixth at Arctic Lapland Rally

Mercedes F1 racer Bottas takes sixth at Arctic Lapland Rally

2
Glickenhaus aiming to make WEC debut at Portimao season opener

Glickenhaus aiming to make WEC debut at Portimao season opener

January 22, 2021
Ty Dillon gets Daytona 500 ride with Gaunt Brothers Racing

Ty Dillon gets Daytona 500 ride with Gaunt Brothers Racing

January 22, 2021
MotoGP postpones US and Argentinean GP’s due to Covid-19, Portugal returns

MotoGP postpones US and Argentinean GP’s due to Covid-19, Portugal returns

January 22, 2021
Motorsport Week

© 2020 Motorsport Media Services Ltd

Other Links

  • About & Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Motorsport Monday

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Formula 1
    • Latest News
    • Calendar
    • Team/Driver Line-Up
    • Standings
    • Results
  • Formula E
    • Latest News
    • Standings
    • Calendar
  • MotoGP
    • Latest News
    • Standings
    • Calendar
  • WRC
    • Latest News
    • Standings
    • Calendar
  • IndyCar
    • Latest News
    • Calendar
    • Standings
  • WEC
    • Latest News
    • Calendar
  • Other
    • Formula 2
    • Formula 3
    • Moto2
    • Moto3
    • WSeries
    • DTM
    • IMSA
    • NASCAR
    • Extreme E
    • Dakar
  • Galleries
  • About/Contact
  • Privacy Policy

© 2020 Motorsport Media Services Ltd

Welcome Back!

Sign In with Facebook
OR

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Sign Up with Facebook
OR

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In