Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff hopes Valtteri Bottas will trust his luck to change after a torrid 2018 to date.
The Finn produced a number of notable performances earlier in the season and could have very easily won in Bahrain, China and Baku.
Instead, it has been one disappointment after another as he sits 110 points behind Lewis Hamilton and is now playing a ‘wingman’ role to the Briton in his bid for a fifth Formula 1 title.
“For every racing driver, that’s a very difficult situation to be in because everything you dream about and everything you work for is winning the world championship,” Wolff said.
“When you realise you’re not in the hunt any more, that’s very difficult to handle. But Valtteri has shown that he has the speed, the talent and the work ethic to win in a Mercedes.”
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This weekend will provide happy memories for the 29-year-old as it was the Russian Grand Prix last year where he held off Sebastian Vettel to claim a first F1 win and that, the Austrian believes, should be the motivation that he needs.
“Valtteri could have won races this year, but the odds were against him. However luck isn’t just a one-way street, and I know that Valtteri has every ingredient it needs to win at this level,” he insisted.
“He just needs to keep working hard to improve and trust that the tables will turn for him.”
Mercedes’ record at Sochi is also impressive as they are undefeated around the Olympic Park circuit but, as Singapore proved, Wolff admits the past is no guarantee of success.
“There are no easy wins this season,” he declared. “We have to fight hard for every bit of performance in order to have a chance to fight for victories and this fight will continue in Russia.
“We know that Ferrari and Red Bull will give it everything to break our winning streak and we must fight as hard as ever to make sure we bring home as many points as possible.”