Bottas has 'unlocked the mentality of a fighter' - Wolff

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff believes he saw enough in Valtteri Bottas at the end of the past season to suggest the "fighter" within will return in 2021.

After Mercedes clinched a record-breaking seventh consecutive constructors' title in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola where Lewis Hamilton and Bottas finished first and second, the Finn then embarked on a slump.

In the following race in Turkey in which Hamilton drove supremely to victory to wrap up his record-equalling seventh drivers' crown, Bottas spun six times en route to a 14th-placed finish.

Two eighth-placed returns followed in the back-to-back races in Bahrain before the 31-year-old finally showed a semblance of his old self with second in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Reflecting on Bottas' end-of-season performance, Wolff said: “I think he is in the right mindset. He had two very difficult weekends from three and recovered.

"He had a very good race but I think maybe he has unlocked a potential you recover towards the end of the season when championships are decided, and I think this is the mentality of a fighter.”

For his part, Bottas knows he under-performed after finishing 124 points - the equivalent of five race victories - adrift of his team-mate at the conclusion of a 17-race calendar.

"As a team, it was an amazing year under the circumstances we had this year," said Bottas.

"We still managed to achieve these kinds of results and make history in Formula 1 with the seventh constructors' title in a row. On that side, it has been amazing.

"On a personal note, a bit mixed for sure. I didn't meet my targets for the year, or results.

"But looking at the big picture, there are so many positive things and so many more lessons learned about driving and about myself and everything that I can again, carry into next year, turn into a strength and try again."

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