Lewis can count on me says Bottas
FINN WILL HELP TITLE PUSH
LEWIS HAMILTON will be able to rely on departing team-mateValtteri Bottas to help him win a recordbreaking eighth world title.
Bottas is moving to Alfa Romeo next year after being axed by Mercedes, who favoured rising star George Russell as a partner for the Briton next season.
But the Finn has promised to do all he can to help Hamilton, who is 12 points behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen with five races to go.The pair are locked in an increasingly bitter battle for the drivers’ championship and the teams are going head to head for the constructors’ title, which Mercedes lead by 23 points ahead of the Mexico City Grand Prix tomorrow.
Bottas said: “Realistically, I am not a candidate for the title any more and I am a team player.
“The fifth world title with the team is very important and if there is a way to help Lewis in his fight for the world title, I will do it. That’s how I stand in it now.” Hamilton’s Mercedes has always struggled to match the Red Bulls at altitude and he owed his win at Mexico City’s Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in 2019 to a brave one-stop strategy.
Red Bull’s second driver Sergio Perez has enjoyed improved results over the past few weeks, with his team having double-podium finishes in the past two races.
But Hamilton and Verstappen will know the risks with a handful of races remaining. One non-points finish could swing the championship dramatically.
And with two unknown tracks in Qatar and Saudi Arabia added to the calendar, 1996 world champion Damon Hill believes the pressure will be on both drivers.
“Everything is now on a very fine balancing tip. One false move and you could lose the world championship game,” said Briton Hill, speaking on the podcast F1 Nation. “You cannot afford to drop 25 points anywhere and there’s the chance that it could happen – it’s so easy.
“I am going to Mexico, I am hoping that they are going to be almost level pegging.
“And then nothing happens in Brazil and then I see them back in Qatar.
“I am going to be watching it every step of the way, whatever happens.”