Bottas Shares How 'Hard' It Was To Admit Hamilton Was Better

Valtteri Bottas recently opened up about how challenging it was to race alongside the seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton.

Current Alfa Romeo/ Sauber F1 driver Valtteri Bottas was a teammate with Lewis Hamilton in Mercedes for five years, during which he didn't beat the Brit once in battle for the Championship.

While Bottas showed some great pace and matched or even beat Hamilton during some qualifications and races, he wasn't consistent enough over the period of 20-22 races in a season.

The Finn shared that his mindset going into every single year was that he could beat the seven-time World Champion as it was the only way he could think to stay competitive. He told motorsport.com:

Read also

Age Of All F1 Drivers In 2024 Season From Youngest To Oldest

On the other hand, the 34-year-old said he accepted the differences between him and his former teammate when he knew he would not stay with the team for longer, and that was "hard."

The Alfa Romeo/ Sauber driver lately indicated that Sergio Perez might be going through the same situation in Red Bull with Max Verstappen.

Asked if he needed somebody from the team telling him he could beat Hamilton, Bottas explained it was always quite honest and open meetings based on facts and data collected from races and qualifications. He added:

Read also

Russell Addresses Differences In Driving Style Between Him And Hamilton