It’s great when you’re given a good car, but you better know how to drive it
Careful what you wish for, they say — sage advice in life and Formula One.
Just ask Valtteri Bottas. Who?
Exactly.
OK, we all know Bottas drives for Mercedes. But given his performance this season, he might as well be invisible.
Sorry, I don’t mean to be mean. I like the guy, whose first name is the Finnish form of mine. He’s a terrific talent.
At least, we think he is. And that’s the point. We just don’t know anymore.
You see, what every F1 driver wishes most of all is to be put in a competitive car. A car that can win championships.
“Give me the tools, and I’ll do the rest.”
They all think that. F1 drivers are vain. They see themselves as invincible. They have to be that way to do what they do.
You’ll recall Bottas got his wish at the end of 2016, when Nico Rosberg announced his surprise retirement from F1 days after he won the drivers’ title with Mercedes.
Suddenly, the most coveted seat on the grid was vacant — a chance to drive for the best team alongside arguably the best driver, Lewis Hamilton.
Bottas was toiling at Williams at the time, a team with dwindling resources. Nevertheless he turned heads and was branded “a future world champion” given the right car.
When Mercedes came calling, he jumped.
And how did that go?
Well, to be fair, not too bad in his first year: three wins, 13 podiums and four pole positions vs. nine wins, 13 podiums and 11 poles for Hamilton.
However, the expectation — his and ours — was that he was going to do better in 2018 as he became more accustomed to his surroundings.
That hasn’t happened. If anything, Bottas seems to be going backward.
This weekend’s Russian Grand Prix marks race No. 16 of 21, and Bottas has a grand total of zero wins to his name.
As for pole positions, he has only one — in Austria — along with six podiums.
Hamilton, meanwhile, has seven wins, seven poles and 12 podiums in an equal car, and is on track to securing his fifth drivers’ crown.
He sits at the top of the standings with 281 points — ahead of Ferrari duo Sebastian Vettel (241) and Kimi Raikkonen (174) — while Bottas is fourth with 171 points, a yawning 110 behind his teammate.
I find myself saying this a lot these days: Contrary to popular perception, F1 is not just about the car. The driver makes a big difference, too.
Hamilton is not only beating his teammate, he is beating Vettel in a Ferrari that has been best in class more often than not this season.
For Bottas, it’s the kind of reality check that can break a career.
He seems to know it, too. His comments on autosport.com this month sound like those of a broken man.
“It is hard. It’s always going to be hard, trying to beat him,” he’s quoted as saying in reference to Hamilton.
“I really feel like I need some good results now. It’s been a while since I had good proper results, nearly one year since I won a race.
“So for confidence and everything, I need some results.” And soon.
The good news is Bottas has a strong track record at the Sochi Autodrom street circuit. He won there last year, and finished third for Williams in 2014.
So if he’s going to turn his fortunes around, this weekend would seem like the time to start.
Meanwhile, his F1 trajectory might serve as a cautionary tale for young drivers who are lucky enough to suddenly find themselves in a better car.
There is Charles Leclerc, 20, who replaces Raikkonen at Ferrari next year after making an impression at Sauber despite the limitations of that car.
His performance at the scuderia will not only go a long way to defining his F1 career, but could leave a mark on the legacy of his new teammate — the veteran Vettel — as well.
Then there’s Lance Stroll. The 19-year-old Montreal native is presumably on his way next season or sooner to Force India, the team taken over by a consortium of investors led by his father Lawrence Stroll.
Now, Force India isn’t in the same league as Mercedes or Ferrari, but it’s several steps up from Williams, which languishes last in the team standings.
“I think I’ve come a long way as a driver,” Stroll was quoted as saying this week. “Unfortunately it’s been a challenging year with the car and the team, so I haven’t really been able to demonstrate that to a certain extent.”
So next year we’ll see the real Lance Stroll, right?
That’s his wish, anyway.
At a glance: Live coverage of qualifying for the Russian Grand Prix airs Saturday at 7:55 a.m. on TSN 3, 5 and 7:45 a.m. on RDS. Race coverage airs Sunday at 7:05 a.m. on TSN 3, 5 and 6:50 a.m. on RDS2. Check listings for extended coverage.