While admitting he needs wins soon, Valtteri Bottas isn’t concerned by the growing gap to Lewis Hamilton in the championship.
Such has been Mercedes’ dominance this season a third and fourth at the past two races saw a 22-point swing in the Briton’s favour, leaving Bottas a total of 29 behind his teammate.
With the momentum firmly in Hamilton’s favour, some have begun to question if the pressure is already getting to the Finn, but he played it all down on Thursday ahead of the French Grand Prix.
“No doubts,” he said to Formula1.com on his current mentality. “I still remember my last win, my last pole, like it was yesterday.
“The points gap to Lewis… it’s still manageable. It’s 14 races to go and that’s a lot of points, so I just need to try and get those wins now, get the big points.”
Also Read:
- Bottas: Car improvements key to Mercedes pace, not the tyres
- Bottas ‘can’t really afford’ many weekends like Canada
- Hamilton takes ‘pride’ in his consistency because ‘every point counts’
Instead, Bottas considers the past two races simply part of the ebb and flow of the season and is confident results will come.
“It’s super competitive [between me and Lewis] for sure this year,” he stated.
“I think the momentum is going to change from one to another during the year, and for different reasons, I haven’t been quite able to maximise the points in the last two races.
“But nothing has changed in a way, so just again, a complete reset from Montreal, move on and try again here.”
Last year saw Bottas suffer another setback after a Turn 1 clash with Sebastian Vettel in France, but he does anticipate a better weekend to come.
“I’m sure there’s a possibility for [Paul Ricard] to be a stronger track than Montreal for us,” he declared.
“There’s some really long straights here and as we’ve seen, that’s a pretty big advantage for Ferrari, especially in qualifying on the straights, so we’re expecting a close fight and not to come to the weekend thinking we’re ahead.
“I think that’s always the right mentality anyway, so we need to make sure we get the most of our package,” Valtteri added.
“It’s going to be all about small margins and taking the opportunities on each race weekend.”