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THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST
Bottas is undeniably a driver with upside, though a quick look at his track record can be misleading. Over his last three Mercedes-powered campaigns at Williams, the Finn has amassed 407 points but the trend has been downwards, from 186 points in 2014 – where he finished a remarkable fourth in the final standings, to 136 one year later, down again to just 85 last season.
It would be wrong however to claim that Bottas’ talent has vanished, as the drift is more a reflection of Williams’ slump in performance. After making the most of its fresh Mercedes power units during the first year in the latest 1.6-litre V6 turbocharged era, the Grove-based outfit has slipped down the pecking order as its rivals refined their aerodynamic packages.
Still, a very consistent Bottas – one of his main assets – managed to outscore Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg in 2016 despite the German arguably enjoying better equipment over the course of the entire season.
Since Williams returned to a regular points-scoring form in 2014, Bottas has finished inside the top 10 in 45 out of 59 grands prix, with an average of 6.9 points per race weekend. That’s a higher score than fellow Finn Kimi Raikkonen for instance, and the fifth best mark behind Hamilton, Rosberg, Sebastian Vettel, and Daniel Ricciardo over the same period.
Consistency and being a know quantity is exactly what Mercedes has been looking for in order to replace its outgoing world champion. A fine performer on Sundays, Bottas is equally strong in qualifying, outpacing Massa 13-6 in 2014 and 17-4 in 2016, though the gap was tighter in 2015 (11-8).
It’s fair to say that the Brazilian was no longer as competitive as in 2007-2008, when he gradually took the upper hand over Raikkonen at Ferrari and pushed Hamilton all the way in the title fight. However, the fresh example of Rosberg has brought further evidence that a driver can enjoys the spoils of victory without being the fastest over one lap
One of the main questions is whether the new Mercedes driver will be able, right away, to challenge Hamilton like his predecessor used to? Jonathan Eddolls, who worked with both Bottas and Rosberg during their Williams stints, told Autosport that he rated the former as “definitely better” than the latter.
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ON MERIT
It is also worth remembering that Bottas reached F1 on merit, without officially joining a young drivers’ programme, nor driving in GP2 Series or Formula 3.5 Series, i.e the two rungs directly below the top category on the racing ladder.
Instead, the Finn has developed and matured under the stewardship of Didier Coton’s Aces Management structure, with Wolff and two-time world champion Mika Häkkinen involved as co-owners as well.
After spending a decade learning the ropes in karting, Bottas graduated to car racing in Formula Renault where he edged Ricciardo to the 2008 Eurocup FR2.0 title. He then stepped up to the highly-rated Formula 3 Euroseries with Frederic Vasseur’s renowned outfit ART Grand Prix.
Although Bottas finished third in both the 2009 and 2010 standings, his back-to-back wins at the iconic Masters of F3 held at Zandvoort - the only driver ever to do so – certainly caught the eye. In 2011, Bottas’ managers placed the youngster in GP3 Series while he also served as F1 test driver for Williams where Wolff was a shareholder.
While Bottas often displays the sort of cool and unfazed demeanour that seems etched in Finnish racers’ DNA, the new Mercedes driver remains a sensitive person.
“I remember his GP3 debut,” said Vasseur, who oversaw Bottas’ progress from 2009-2011 with ART. “He was making a lot of mistakes, so Toto and I had a chat with him and the end of the story was just great.”
Winless at the halfway mark of the season, Bottas went on to rack up four wins and another two podium finishes to claim the title at the final round in Monza.
The following season, Williams handed him practice runs on 15 grand prix weekends where his impressive performance earned the Finn a full-time race seat in 2013 alongside Maldonado, whom he would outqualify and outrace as a rookie.
In 77 starts, Bottas has claimed nine podiums, with a best result of second at Silverstone and Hockenheim in 2014, finished a remarkable fourth in that year’s Drivers’ standings and outscore his team-mates 411-309.
