“It feels like a failure”– Valtteri Bottas admits he never stood a chance to win championship at Mercedes

Tanish Chachra | 11/11/2021
"It feels like a failure"– Valtteri Bottas admits he never stood a chance to win championship at Mercedes

Valtteri Bottas saw his stint with Mercedes as a failure as he aimed to win the championship, but he never got a chance.

Mercedes hired Valtteri Bottas as a deputy to Lewis Hamilton. A docile teammate so that the Silver Arrows could prevent disputes within the teammates, as was the case with Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

However, Bottas never shied away from his hope of winning a championship. But he never managed to get one with the team in this last five years of their superiority.

And now, with his next destination being Alfa Romeo, he is unlikely even to get a shot at podiums. The championship is a far sight. Even with the radical regulations, Alfa Romeo is so deprived of resources that giving a thought to it would be unrealistic.

Realising his failure in winning a championship, the Finn considers his stint as a flop. Even in 2021, he stands no chance even to give the last shot.

“I wanted to be champion,” said Bottas. “In a way, it feels like a failure not to have achieved this goal with Mercedes. But I tried everything and gave it my all, but it just wasn’t meant to be.”

Also read: Timo Glock feels Mercedes should have announced Valtteri Bottas to Alfa Romeo after end of season

What holds for the successor of Valtteri Bottas?

Only a day after Bottas to Alfa Romeo announcement, Mercedes announced George Russell as his replacement. The Briton is a huge prospect for Mercedes, and it may once again turbulent the team order.

Even if it doesn’t happen in the first season, it will likely occur once Russell’s ambitions kick in. So far, Toto Wolff warned Russell of being respectful towards the team.

Would that mean to remain docile, like Bottas often been instructed to leave a way for Hamilton? It remains to be seen. But Mercedes is undoubtedly heading for exciting times.

Also read: Valtteri Bottas reveals the reason why chose to join Alfa Romeo instead of Williams for 2022

Post Edited By: Tanish Chachra
Mercedes Valtteri Bottas

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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