FINISHING STRAIGHTTHE FINAL LAP
radio: “Valtteri, it’s James...”
Like Hamilton, Bottas is also
coming tothe en d of his contract
with Mercedes. But the prospects
of him securing a renewal are
more nuanced. While his selfless
devotion to the team’s cause and
his unwillingness to resort to
‘dirty tricks’ to put one over on
Hamilton are weighty presences in the merit column, he’s going to
have to find more speed and consistency if he wants to hold on to his
seat beyond theend of this season. While it’s impossible to reach firm
conclusions about relative performance based on testing, the state
of play at theend of last season wasthat Mercedes no longer hadthe
most powerfulengine and perhaps not eventhe fastest car.
Given stability in the rules, that means a much more tightly
contested battle for race wins is in prospect and Bottas can no
longer afford the odd off-weekendwhere he qualifies well but drifts
backwards anonymously during the race. Every point may count–
yes, eventhe much-derided solo ones for
fastest race laps.
But for Bottas’s place at Mercedes to
be genu inely imperilled, the team needsa
replacement it considers to be better. Who
might that be? Probably not Esteban Ocon,
a Mercedes-backed talent now onlong-term
loan to Renault and with a tendency to have
fractious relationships with team-mates.
Daniel Ricciardo, out of contract at Renault
this season, is a possibility, albeit a remote
one. Theway the cards have fallen for him,
the only lead-driver roles open to him will be
at midfield teams (unless Renault undergoes
a radical turnaround and he opts to stay
there). Might he find himself at that point
in his career where he’s forced to set aside
his championship ambitions and accepta
subsidiary role in order to stay in the game?
Geor ge Russell might impress enough at
Williamsthisseasontowarrantapromotion,
and he remains the strongest candidate.
Or does he? Mercedes has just promoted
Stoffel Vandoorne toa r eserve driver role;
yes, he fell out of favourat McLarena couple
of years ago, but he’s staying race-sharp in
Formula E and Merc insiders say he’s among
the finest simulator drivers they’ve ever had.
Don’t rule him out...“There comes a time,”argued Richard Nixon
in a famous phone call to then-US Presidential
candidate Dwight Eisenhower, “whenyou’ve
either got to shit or get off the pot.” Differing
circumstances aside, for Valtteri Bottas that
time is swiftly approaching.
Long contract extensions for Max Verstappen
and Charles Leclerc at Red Bull and Ferrari
respectively have inked in the identities ofthose
teams’ lead drivers for theforeseeable. Mercedes
and Lewis Hamilton, having “left each other in
peace” over thewinter according to team boss
Toto Wolff, are aboutto begin their protracted
dance towards agreeing a new contract for 2021
and beyond. They are, as Wolff alsosaid, “the
obvious pairing going forward”.
Assuming Hamilton is a given at Mercedes
for at least 2021, where does that leave Bottas?
Needing to prove himself as the best number two
available, that’s what.
Last year Bottas came rampaging out oftheblocks with victory in the season opener. His
jokey attribution of his new-foundpace to eating
porridge for breakfast on race day became an
instant internet hit – such stuff as memes are
made on, as Shakespeare might have put it.
But all the oat-based comestibles in the world
couldn’t prevent him gradually shipping positions
and points tohis team-mate and other rivals as
the season progressed. The promise of offering
a genuine titlethreat to Hamilton evaporated
and, come Singapore – earlier than ever before- Bottas hadto f ield that dread phrase over the
VALTTERI HAS
TO... EAT MORE
PORRIDGE!
PICTURE:SHUTTERSTOCK.ILLUSTRATION:BENJAMINWACHENJE@CoddersF1PICTURES
138 GP RACING MARCH 2020
STUART CODLING
FLAT
CHAT
{ {
FULLTHROTTLE
MUSINGSWITHThechoiceofchampions?Maybe
Bottasneedstouphisporridge
intake tochallengeHamiltonBOTT AS CAN
NO LONGER
AFFORD
THE ODD
OFF-WEEKEND
GPRacinghasapodcast!
Search for ‘Flat Chat with Codders’ in
your podcasting platform of choice.FINISHING STRAIGHTTHE FINAL LAP
radio: “Valtteri, it’s James...”
Like Hamilton, Bottas is also
coming tothe en d of his contract
with Mercedes. But the prospects
of him securing a renewal are
more nuanced. While his selfless
devotion to the team’s cause and
his unwillingness to resort to
‘dirty tricks’ to put one over on
Hamilton are weighty presences in the merit column, he’s going to
have to find more speed and consistency if he wants to hold on to his
seat beyond theend of this season. While it’s impossible to reach firm
conclusions about relative performance based on testing, the state
of play at theend of last season wasthat Mercedes no longer hadthe
most powerfulengine and perhaps not eventhe fastest car.
Given stability in the rules, that means a much more tightly
contested battle for race wins is in prospect and Bottas can no
longer afford the odd off-weekendwhere he qualifies well but drifts
backwards anonymously during the race. Every point may count–
yes, eventhe much-derided solo ones for
fastest race laps.
But for Bottas’s place at Mercedes to
be genu inely imperilled, the team needsa
replacement it considers to be better. Who
might that be? Probably not Esteban Ocon,
a Mercedes-backed talent now onlong-term
loan to Renault and with a tendency to have
fractious relationships with team-mates.
Daniel Ricciardo, out of contract at Renault
this season, is a possibility, albeit a remote
one. Theway the cards have fallen for him,
the only lead-driver roles open to him will be
at midfield teams (unless Renault undergoes
a radical turnaround and he opts to stay
there). Might he find himself at that point
in his career where he’s forced to set aside
his championship ambitions and accepta
subsidiary role in order to stay in the game?
Geor ge Russell might impress enough at
Williamsthisseasontowarrantapromotion,
and he remains the strongest candidate.
Or does he? Mercedes has just promoted
Stoffel Vandoorne toa r eserve driver role;
yes, he fell out of favourat McLarena couple
of years ago, but he’s staying race-sharp in
Formula E and Merc insiders say he’s among
the finest simulator drivers they’ve ever had.
Don’t rule him out...“There comes a time,”argued Richard Nixon
in a famous phone call to then-US Presidential
candidate Dwight Eisenhower, “whenyou’ve
either got to shit or get off the pot.” Differing
circumstances aside, for Valtteri Bottas that
time is swiftly approaching.
Long contract extensions for Max Verstappen
and Charles Leclerc at Red Bull and Ferrari
respectively have inked in the identities ofthose
teams’ lead drivers for theforeseeable. Mercedes
and Lewis Hamilton, having “left each other in
peace” over thewinter according to team boss
Toto Wolff, are aboutto begin their protracted
dance towards agreeing a new contract for 2021
and beyond. They are, as Wolff alsosaid, “the
obvious pairing going forward”.
Assuming Hamilton is a given at Mercedes
for at least 2021, where does that leave Bottas?
Needing to prove himself as the best number two
available, that’s what.
Last year Bottas came rampaging out oftheblocks with victory in the season opener. His
jokey attribution of his new-foundpace to eating
porridge for breakfast on race day became an
instant internet hit – such stuff as memes are
made on, as Shakespeare might have put it.
But all the oat-based comestibles in the world
couldn’t prevent him gradually shipping positions
and points tohis team-mate and other rivals as
the season progressed. The promise of offering
a genuine titlethreat to Hamilton evaporated
and, come Singapore – earlier than ever before- Bottas hadto f ield that dread phrase over the
VALTTERI HAS
TO... EAT MORE
PORRIDGE!
PICTURE:SHUTTERSTOCK.ILLUSTRATION:BENJAMINWACHENJE@CoddersF1PICTURES
138 GP RACING MARCH 2020
STUART CODLING
FLAT
CHAT
{ {
FULLTHROTTLE
MUSINGSWITHThechoiceofchampions?Maybe
Bottasneedstouphisporridge
intake tochallengeHamiltonBOTT AS CAN
NO LONGER
AFFORD
THE ODD
OFF-WEEKEND
GPRacinghasapodcast!
Search for ‘Flat Chat with Codders’ in
your podcasting platform of choice.