"Selfish" Bottas to be more assertive at Mercedes in bid for F1 crown

Mercedes

"Selfish" Bottas to be more assertive at Mercedes in bid for F1 crown

Bottas yet to finish higher than Hamilton in drivers' standings

Ewan Gale

Wednesday 3 March 2021 08:00

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Valtteri Bottas has revealed he aims to be more "selfish" in his quest to beat Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton and become Formula 1 world champion.

Bottas has been outclassed by Hamilton in every season since the Finn stepped up from Williams at the beginning of 2017, with the Briton winning four consecutive titles to take his tally to a record-equalling seven.

Whilst Bottas has shown promise with victories at the opening rounds of each of the last two seasons, his championship challenges have ultimately derailed through a mixture of poor performances and bad luck during the course of his campaigns.

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With Bottas heading into what appears to be a make-or-break season, he said: "This year I am demanding more from myself than ever. Obviously, not overdoing things.

"The ultimate goal for me this season is that I can get to the last race in Abu Dhabi and look back and say that I did 100 per cent.

"I did every single thing I could to win the title. That is the ultimate goal for this year. That is going to be the same for all the people around me, whoever I am working with.

"I will demand as much as I feel like I need to get the support and information I need and maybe that way, I can be a bit more selfish.

"One year of your lifetime, giving everything you have is actually quite a short amount of time. That is the mindset I have and that is including me and the people around me."

Mercedes has options for the new era of F1 next year as both Hamilton and Bottas are out of contract at the end of this season, with many pointing to the likelihood the latter will make way for George Russell should the seven-time F1 champion opt to stay.

When asked how disappointing losing again to Hamilton would be given the waning number of opportunities being afforded to him, Bottas replied: "Of course, in a way, it would be disappointing because I have been team-mates with Lewis for several years and every year that is the goal.

"But what would be more disappointing would be if I look back and realise things where I should have done better or put more effort in. I don't want to leave any 'ifs' or 'what ifs' after this year. That is the goal.

"If I give everything I have, if I maximise myself and the people around me and give everything I have then there are no regrets."