Valtteri Bottas isn’t throwing in the towel on this year’s Formula 1 championship just yet.
The Finn currently sits 62 points behind Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton after beating him in a race for the first time since Austria last Sunday at Monza.
For Bottas, his problem has been failing to convert strong qualifying performances into victories, only doing so once in four attempts, and occasionally poor races like crashing out in Germany and P8 in Hungary.
“Well there’s no point ever giving up when there’s still statistics to say it’s possible,” Bottas stated to Crash.net.
“Obviously it’s a bit of a long shot, honestly, if you’re realistic with the way Lewis is performing and the consistency he’s having. But obviously you never know.
“This is F1, we’ve seen crazy things happening so there’s no point giving up.”
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A strong start to 2019, with two wins in the first four races, had raised hopes of a stronger threat to Hamilton, however, his success in Baku remains his last.
“I just focus as an individual to do my best performance I can and for us, as a team, to keep those improvements coming, that we are doing together and by the end of the year we will see, but there’s no point in giving up,” he continued.
“I think we tried everything we could [in the Italian GP] and it felt like we maximised everything with the strategy and all – but just not quite enough.”
Bottas’ failure to really threaten Charles Leclerc in the closing laps at Monza, despite having fresher tyres, was just another example of the difference between himself and Hamilton.
And a when a small error at the first chicane all-but-confirmed the Monegasque’s victory, the frustration on Mercedes boss Toto Wolff’s face was clear.
“It looks like he struggles a little bit when he gets in the wake of the car to extract the maximum,” the Austrian was quoted by the Express.
“Lewis in that position is able to somehow get closer and put himself in a position to go for a move.
“It’s something he has got to work on but on the positive side, his racing was great today. He was really fast. Probably in pure race time the fastest car.”
Over the summer, Mercedes opted to continue with Bottas in 2020, choosing him over reserve driver Esteban Ocon who will drive for Renault.