BOTTAS: I’LL HELP LEWIS BEAT RECORD

LEWIS HAMILTON can rely on departing team-mate Valtteri Bottas to help him win his record-breaking eighth world title.

Bottas moves to Alfa Romeo after being axed by the Mercedes team, who favoured rising star George Russell to partner the Brit next year.

But the Finn (top left) has promised to do everything he can to help Hamilton (top right), who is 12 points behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen with five races remaining.

Hamilton and Verstappen have been locked in an increasingly bitter battle for the drivers’ championship, but the two teams are also going head to head for the constructors’ title, which Mercedes lead by 23 points.

Bottas (with Hamilton, below) 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.”

Hamilton’s Mercedes have always struggled to match the Red Bulls at altitude and he owed his win at the 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 Red Bull having double-podium finishes in the last two races.

Yet, Hamilton and Verstappen will both know the risks with a handful of races remaining. One non-points finish, or worse, a DNF, could see the championship swing dramatically.

And with two unknown tracks on the calendar, with Qatar and Saudi Arabia added to the line-up, 1996 world champion Damon Hill thinks the pressure will be on both drivers.

“Everything is now on a very fine balancing tip, but one false move and you could lose the world championship game,” said Hill, speaking on the podcast F1 Nation.

“You cannot afford to drop 25 points anywhere, and there’s the chance it could happen. It’s so easy.

“I’m going to Mexico, I’m hoping they’re going to be almost levelpegging. And then nothing happens in Brazil, and then I see them back in Qatar. I’m gonna be watching every step of the way, whatever happens.”