Wolff: No fifth title for Hamilton without Bottas!

It's a claim Lewis Hamilton would perhasp challenge but Mercedes boss Toto Wolff believes the Brit would have not secured his fifth world championship this year without the support of Valtteri Bottas.

Wolff even went a step further, stating that the Silver Arrows outfit would have been hard pressed to win the its fifth consecutive Constructors' crown without the presence of its faithful Finn.

And yet Bottas' track record this season - marred in part by bad luck - was a disappointing one, with the 29-year-old failing to bring home a single win in 2018 while Hamilton collected 11 victories!

• Bottas plans to 'drive like I stole it' in 2019

However, Bottas' contribution as he was confined to a support role is greatly appreciated by Wolff.

"We wouldn’t have won the Drivers’ Championship and the Constructors’ Championship without Valtteri," said the Mercedes boss.

"Valtteri, even with his bad luck, did never allow the spirit and the mindset to drop within the organisation. He was always capable to maintain the high spirits.

"You see drivers when they lose the ability to win the championship the whole thing goes really down the drain.

"It becomes negative, it becomes dysfunctional. Valtteri until the very end kept us in a positive place."

Bottas has vowed to step up his game in 2019 and return to the fray with new zeal. To help with his preparations, the Finn will tackle his first ever rally at the end of January when he enters the Arctic Lapland Rally with a WRC-spec Ford Fiesta.

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