“I don’t think there are many people that can do what he’s doing”- Lewis Hamilton praises Valtteri Bottas after qualifying in Imola

“I don’t think there are many people that can do what he’s doing”- Lewis Hamilton praises teammate Valtteri Bottas after he secured pole position.

Lewis Hamilton had a great day in the qualifying round at Imola, as he will be taking the P2 start on Sunday. On the other hand, his teammate Valtteri Bottas had a better outing with him taking the pole position.

Hamilton, who has the most number of pole positions in the current lot was full of praises about his teammate and said that he acknowledges that there are not many people in Formula 1 who can replicate his role.

Asked by The Race how high a level Bottas is performing at, Hamilton said: “I don’t really think I need to say much, I mean, jeez, he just got pole position, he’s ahead of me.

“I have more poles than anyone here so it’s not like I’m a slowpoke and so he’s doing an amazing job. I think his result today speaks for itself and I don’t really need to say much more. He does his talking on the track and that’s the great thing about Valtteri.

“I don’t think there are many people that can do what he’s doing if I’m really honest. I’ve got a huge amount of respect for him.” he further said.

Is Valtteri Bottas underrated?

When asked about Bottas not being rightly rated over him having a lower number of wins with the superior Mercedes car. The Briton replied “I don’t really think about that, how people rate me. It’s something that I think is the wrong area to focus on.

“Sometimes you get criticism, I think everyone does. That’s normal in life, and there are always people who want to drag you down. I just try to turn it into positive energy and try to use it as a strength.

“So, I’m not really one to comment on [whether I’m] underrated or overrated, whatever, I should not think about that. I’m just focusing on my driving, trying to get a pole, trying to get wins. That’s my job. That’s what I like to do.”

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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