Valtteri Bottas claims the fact he has failed to win so far this season is “amazing” with just seven races left to go.
During his first year with Mercedes, the Finn won three times, with two of those venues still left to come, however, under pressure to put up a stronger fight against teammate Lewis Hamilton, poor luck has worked against him.
“I really want to win races, that’s why I’m here,” he said ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix this weekend.
“For me, it’s quite disappointing and amazing that I haven’t won a race this year. It’s been quite close many times, especially in the first third of the season.”
The 29-year-old could have won in China, Bahrain and most clearly in Baku where he was leading in the closing stages before a race-ending puncture, instead he sits along with Kimi Raikkonen as the only drivers from the top three teams yet to win in 2018.
97 points behind Hamilton, Bottas now faces the prospect of having to support the Briton in his championship quest, but Valtteri still sees hope to break his winless streak.
“If I have a good pace, a good qualifying, I’m strong in the race, I think I can definitely win,” he claimed. “But for sure it’s a bit more simple if Lewis secures the title.”
Sunday’s race at Marina Bay is expected to be a damage limitation job for Mercedes, who struggle in hot climates and on street circuits, but the events of 12 months ago mean expectations remain the same.
“You never know. You saw what happened last year!” said Bottas, referring to the Ferrari’s and Max Verstappen wiping each other out.
“It’s racing, and we go there with the mindset that anything can happen.
“Hopefully we can be more competitive there than we were last year, compared to other teams. It is tricky at the moment,” he added.
“The Ferrari is quick everywhere. Red Bull will be quick in Singapore. For us, we don’t really know how competitive we are going to be but we are going to go there, try to get more points than Ferrari,” he concluded.
