Valtteri Bottas has been forced to play second fiddle to Lewis Hamilton ever since he arrived at Mercedes. Many believe this is the main reason why Bottas never made a run for the title, which is something the driver himself believes he could have done if the team had allowed him.

Speaking with reporters ahead of this week’s Russian Grand Prix, Bottas was asked at one point whether he will be allowed to aim for the first place considering Hamilton is engaged in a tight race for the championship with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. The question was prompted by the fact that Bottas had his last Formula 1 win at the same venue one year ago.

“I don’t know really, I need to ask [Mercedes team principal] Toto [Wolff],” Bottas said.

The 32-year-old driver then added that he felt like he wasn’t allowed to win earlier in the season.

“At least earlier in the season, I felt like I wasn’t allowed anymore for the contention, but you never know. We go race by race,” he explained.

Valtteri Bottas is currently holding the third position on F1’s 2021 Driver Standings with 141 points. He had one pole position and made the podium eight times this season but failed to win a race.

Following the 2021 F1 season, Bottas will leave Mercedes and join Alfa Romeo, where he will presumably be the number one driver.

The post Valtteri Bottas Felt Mercedes Didn’t Allow Him to Compete Earlier in Season appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The 2020 F1 season officially kicked off on Sunday with the Austrian Grand Prix and already delivered plenty of thrills and surprises.

The first race of the F1 circuit saw Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas get the win after he took the pole position during qualifying. Only 2.7 seconds behind Bottas was Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc while Mclaren Renault’s Lando Norris finished third and got his first career podium finish.

“There’s a few moments where I thought I fudged it,” said Norris, who is only driving his second F1 season. “It was a good race, a hard last few laps to push as hard as I can. I’m so happy for the team to achieve what we have given where we were a few years ago.”

The 2019 champion Lewis Hamilton finished the race second on the track but ended up being demoted to the fourth spot after receiving a five-second penalty for causing a crash with Red Bull’s Alexander Albon. Hamilton received a three-place grid penalty at the start of the race after ignoring a yellow flag during the qualifiers.

Much of the action on the Austrian GP was caused by the two safety cars that entered the track late in the race. The first safety car was deployed after Williams’s George Russell lost power on lap 51, while the second entered on lap 55 when Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen lost his tire. Nine racers failed to finish the race at the end.

The next Grand Prix, Styrian GP, is set to take place on July 12th.  

The post Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas Gets the Win at Austrian GP appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Valtteri Bottas has been forced to play second fiddle to Lewis Hamilton ever since he arrived at Mercedes. Many believe this is the main reason why Bottas never made a run for the title, which is something the driver himself believes he could have done if the team had allowed him.

Speaking with reporters ahead of this week’s Russian Grand Prix, Bottas was asked at one point whether he will be allowed to aim for the first place considering Hamilton is engaged in a tight race for the championship with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. The question was prompted by the fact that Bottas had his last Formula 1 win at the same venue one year ago.

“I don’t know really, I need to ask [Mercedes team principal] Toto [Wolff],” Bottas said.

The 32-year-old driver then added that he felt like he wasn’t allowed to win earlier in the season.

“At least earlier in the season, I felt like I wasn’t allowed anymore for the contention, but you never know. We go race by race,” he explained.

Valtteri Bottas is currently holding the third position on F1’s 2021 Driver Standings with 141 points. He had one pole position and made the podium eight times this season but failed to win a race.

Following the 2021 F1 season, Bottas will leave Mercedes and join Alfa Romeo, where he will presumably be the number one driver.

The post Valtteri Bottas Felt Mercedes Didn’t Allow Him to Compete Earlier in Season appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The 2020 F1 season officially kicked off on Sunday with the Austrian Grand Prix and already delivered plenty of thrills and surprises.

The first race of the F1 circuit saw Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas get the win after he took the pole position during qualifying. Only 2.7 seconds behind Bottas was Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc while Mclaren Renault’s Lando Norris finished third and got his first career podium finish.

“There’s a few moments where I thought I fudged it,” said Norris, who is only driving his second F1 season. “It was a good race, a hard last few laps to push as hard as I can. I’m so happy for the team to achieve what we have given where we were a few years ago.”

The 2019 champion Lewis Hamilton finished the race second on the track but ended up being demoted to the fourth spot after receiving a five-second penalty for causing a crash with Red Bull’s Alexander Albon. Hamilton received a three-place grid penalty at the start of the race after ignoring a yellow flag during the qualifiers.

Much of the action on the Austrian GP was caused by the two safety cars that entered the track late in the race. The first safety car was deployed after Williams’s George Russell lost power on lap 51, while the second entered on lap 55 when Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen lost his tire. Nine racers failed to finish the race at the end.

The next Grand Prix, Styrian GP, is set to take place on July 12th.  

The post Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas Gets the Win at Austrian GP appeared first on SportzBonanza.