“But then Hamilton comes back”- Nico Rosberg claims Valtteri Bottas can’t beat Lewis Hamilton

“But then Hamilton comes back and Bottas”- Nico Rosberg, the last nemesis of Lewis Hamilton, doesn’t feel his successor can be the champion.

Nico Rosberg was the last real challenge to Lewis Hamilton in Formula 1. Still, that kind of competition was not tolerant to Mercedes, so to ensure team stability, they hired Valtteri Bottas, who has been often regarded as Hamilton’s “wingman”.

But Bottas, in recent years, has shown his desire to win the championship. However, his predecessor Rosberg feels that the Finnish can’t beat Hamilton over the course of the season.

“Every year there are races where his performance makes you think: ‘Okay, now he can do it, he can fight Lewis,'” Rosberg told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“But then Hamilton comes back, and Bottas becomes a bit anonymous. Even this year, I would never say that Bottas isn’t in the fight because, on a flying lap, he goes so fast, he is always capable of beating Hamilton.

“But in the long run, on continuity, he can’t make it. And then this year, I think Sergio Perez will also be in the fight. We are starting a season in which, for me, there are four potential winners of the world championship, and this is very interesting.”

Valtteri Bottas wants the championship.

In the latest season of the Drive To Survive, a huge part of Bottas’ predicaments came onto the surface, and now he has claimed that he doesn’t want to be the “second-one” anymore.

“Lewis has won the titles all the years now that I’ve been with the team, but still going to this new year, starting from fresh and with a new page – absolutely, I believe that I can fight for the title,” Bottas stated.

“I’ll demand as much as I feel like I need to, to get the support and get the information that I need. And maybe that way, I can be a bit more selfish.”

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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