Mercedes confirms, again, its full support for Bottas

Valtteri Bottas has the full support of Mercedes insists Toto Wolff, but the Silver Arrows boss isn't dismissing Esteban Ocon's candidacy for a seat in 2020.

Bottas ended his 2018 campaign without a win, the Finn hit by wretched luck on several occasions but also suffering at the hands of Lewis Hamilton in terms of relative performance.

Ocon's sudden availability following his release from Force India in the aftermath of the team's takeover by Lawrence Stroll, has led pundits to speculate about Bottas' future, or his potential replacement by the talented young Frenchman.

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

Speaking to ESPN, Wolff acknowledged that Ocon would be lurking in the wings next season, but Bottas will be the man sitting opposite Hamilton in the Mercedes garage.

"We have options for Esteban for 2020, but of course he might also be an option for Mercedes. It depends how the season pans out in Mercedes and how Valtteri goes," said Wolff.

"Still, we haven't lost any of our trust in Valtteri.

"We are 100 percent behind him because there is the trust within our drivers, because if we wouldn't be behind him, we might as well make the change now. But we don't.

"We think that he's our man, and then obviously Esteban is in the starting blocks because he's keen to drive that car."

Perhaps the most defining event in Bottas' season was his retirement in the closing laps of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix when the Finn's Mercedes was struck by a piece of debris.

It was only the fourth round of the world championship, but the incident was a big set-back for the driver, and for Wolff.

"Baku for me was a shock, I was very annoyed and very upset because of this whole manoeuvre," Wolff told Motorsport.com, referring to the on-track contact between Pierre Gasly and Kevin Magnussen that resulted in debris destroying Bottas' rear tyre.

"Magnussen v Gasly was crazy, and should have been severely penalised.

"Then the debris being on the track from this sh*t fight, at this sh*t place at the back of the grid costing Valtteri this win is shameful. It is shameful.

"This is one of the worst moments for me this year. I think if he (Bottas) would have won those three races, he would have been easily in the lead of the championship after Baku."

Later in the season, because of his deficit in the championship to hamilton, Bottas was forced into a support role, a position that likely took its toll on his motivation according to Wolff.

"I think for a racing driver, not competing for the championship any more, if this is everything that you are in there for, it is very difficult.

"We have seen with Valtteri the two times when he could not drive for the championship any more and we had to back Lewis, because he had more points, you could see that there is a drop of performance.

"I think it affects every driver. So if he stays in the hunt, that makes a big difference."

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