Is The Valtteri Bottas Criticism JUSTIFIED? 

No it’s not justified. Just redbull drivers being compared to Max. Some F1 fans thought he would wiped the floor with Lewis, so were the same fans who said Vettel would do similar to Lewis, so they’ve turned their frustrations on him.

No matter how much wins you have how much points you have how much podioms you have.......I still have respect to every single driver out there becouse they all worked hard to be one of the 20 drivers in the whole world

Lewis Hamilton has the ability to raise the bar higher, and this is a big problem for any of his team mates!! Feel sorry for Bottas

no Bottas is doing just fine Lewis is just that much better. he is not your average teammate this is a 6-time world champion in his prime. so his mistakes just get more exposed than other drivers. look at max and albon, leclerc and vettel, or the gap most of the midfield teams they are miles apart from their teammates. but bottas out qualifies and wins a GP or two against the best driver on the grid. he got unlucky twice but still in second place big whoop

Outstanding. Exactly how I was feeling about Bottas. He’s good. If Lewi wasn’t there he would be the man on top.

Problem with such comparisons and numbers, is you have to assume Lewis is a constant and hasn't improved. People do like to talk though, if it occupies their time, so be it.

Bottas has great race pace but he's not aggressive enough to fight for position

I dont think mercedes signed Bottas as direct competition to Lewis, unlike Rosberg who was direct competition to Lewis and pushed him to the limit, Bottas is a steady points scorer and does not try mind games and that is what Mercedes need, he has won races in his own right but has also been gifted race wins as payback for giving Lewis a place or two, in any other team he would be good driver, but cannot hold a candle to Lewis for determination skill and overtaking ability which has let him down repeatedly, so yes he is a good team mate but who would want to be Lewis's team mate

I would agree with this video, Bottas is a good driver its just Hamilton has that extra few percent that makes the difference. Valtteri is still doing better than the discrepancy at Red Bull. or Ferrari for that matter.

Looking forward to this one. This content creator BMPHF1 is a legend

He's basically doing what kimi was doing next to vettel in 2017 and 2018 but no one's on kimi's case lol

What makes Hamilton and max Great is the things that you can't copy from Data, its their feeling in the car and how they manipulate the pedals to get the most out of the car. Probably why albon and bottas are baffled every weekend.

Bottas should win more

Good Lord, BMPHF1 !!! I had conflicting emotions running through me at the same time, while watching your latest offering. One was super embarrassment for being named in your video cast and the other was a thrill for being acknowledged. Same as wanting to hide under a rock and at the same time feel a thrilling chill run up my spine!!! But the true hero of it all is you, dear friend, and with a special shout-out to the excellent Bahamuttiamutt for drawing out a reticent person like me to crawl out of the woodwork to give you my 2 cents worth opinion. I'm reasonably certain that like me, there are several first-timers (of all ages) who have become fans of your channel. Class and quality will always rise to the top. So keep it up and be true to yourself. I see a great future ahead for you. My very best wishes to you. Take care and God bless!!!

Great video!! I keep wanting to support VB to get a title but I think I finally need to accept that he is a good driver, but he never moved to Merc to get a title. He moved there to get wins and improve his skills. If he was actually honest, does he actually believe that against HAM he can win a title...?

Jeez, I'm on the fence with this. I'm going to say yes AND no. To put it short, yes, because he's not doing enough to take the fight to Hamilton and it's boring to watch, but no, because sometimes the criticism develops into personal attacks, because, y'know, anonymity on the internet gives people freedom to be assholes, Bottas has his strengths, and let's face it, he is hired for the same reasons that Barrichello, Webber, Massa and Coulthard were hired. To be a solid number two driver to their world champion teammate, and Bottas is very good at fulfilling that role. I don't think Bottas is a bad driver. His Williams stint was pretty good, racking 9 podiums and at times challenging for race wins while comfortably beating Massa. However, we can see the difference when Bottas is paired against a world champion and one of the best drivers of all time.

What a great video Ben!! Absolutely loved the stats in this video, really put things into perspective!

love the content mate keep it up! calling it now ur gonna be past 100k subs by end of 2021

Been absolutely loving your content recently, keep it up!!!! 🙌🏾🙌🏾

I love your videos! What editing software do you use?

Valtteri's best season ( 2019) is level with Rosberg's worst (2015)

I like how you say 'without further adieu' 🙂

Mate, Zach from Apex F1 predicted Vettel to be WDC, that's what aged badly. Great work again, keep it up, and congrats again on 5k

although I am pretty sure they are great team mates and probably friends, I think Bottas' worst piece of luck was being Lewis' contemporary. Without Lewis there He would probably have got a Championship by now, but Roseburg would have made it extremely difficult.

First of all, that intro 😂 Secondly, yes please do one on Alex, already loving this style and would love to see you do a deeper dive for him as well. Thirdly, while I believe it's very clear that Bottas is not on the same level as Rosberg, I don't think Mercedes were ever intending to have a repeat of the Hamilton-Rosberg lineup. Toto himself said that it was some of the most stressful years of his career because both drivers were so unwilling to compromise. Bottas is a solid driver, and can guarantee a good amount of points for the team, but Mercedes were never going to hire a driver that could match Lewis

😂, I was watching you other video on bottas earlier today and I was thinking if you were gonna make this video, What a coincidence, I am not finished watching but good video

Yep this is why he’s never won back to back races. Most of the time the next weekend after the race win is shocking. Bottas never really has “momentum”. Austria to Styria for example, Russia to Germany in the race. Melbourne 2019 to Bahrain for example. Just a few examples of having terrible races/qualy after a race win.

Oh Imma subscribe to this. You on it young bro

It's a pretty tough job to be alongside someone like Lewis Hamilton. However, saying that he's doing okay. He might be the second best, second driver ever(ironically) behind Rubens. Somewhat passive and docile but can fight with others with varying success. I don't think all criticism is completely unfair (like he should be doing better with less mistakes like Germany). However, some of the "criticism" (like death threats and wises) are just disgusting. I think that he is somewhat underperforming considering that Nico has had the same amount of wins as Bottas in Mercedes (9). He's in, quite possibly, the best F1 car ever developed and his just been nigh on useless. A few poles and 1 win (which should have been 2 but he buckled under the pressure) leaves him looking a lot worse than what he's actually doing. While he hasn't been terrible, he's WAY too passive and just sits back, mainly at race starts, like Russia or Britain, where he could nab P1. Nevertheless, some of the criticism is just disgusting and really unnecessary, but other criticism is, most of the time, fair enough. Great video mate, 6k is coming soon.

Really solid video, they're so chill to just listen to. Like you said, the stats aren't in his favour in the slightest against Lewis - exactly the same as Albons aren't against Max - but both Hamilton and Verstappen are exceptional drivers that not many people can challenge. Ultimately, I think Bottas has had his time and it would be silly for Mercedes to keep him beyond 2021 especially as they have Russel waiting in the wings and who's possibly at risk next year if Dorilton make the stupid mistake of going for money.

Great point about killer instinct / x gene... A great example of that: Watch the "Drive to survive"-episode about Ric and Hülkenberg! Viewed casually, you see Ric teasing Hulk pretty consistently. But what he is really doing is asserting his dominance over him... Watch the nervous grinning of Hulk... Or Nico Rosberg mentioned many times that Michael (Schumi) essentially pretended Nico did not exist in his world and not once discussed setup-advice and strategy with Nico at Mercedes. He also mentioned a time where Michael literally blocked the toilet pre-qualifying until the very last second, sprinting to his car with only seconds to spare leaving Nico standing there... Hulk did not have that killer instinct... Ric has it... Max has it... Lewis has it... I'm sure Leclerc and Russel have it... Michael had it... Bottas does not... I don't think Albon has... I don't think Ocon has...

Im kinda alone on this but i think hes just behind Vettel, Verstappen and Hamilton in terms of pure perfomance. I mean, those three are really specials Hes extremely fast at one lap(since his days in Williams)but he lacks some race pace, tyres management and maybe more ability to do some overtakes(Monza 2020)

As a long time F1 fan and as a person who has reached professional level on classical music. I have analyzed and thought many times about the psychological and other aspects of "performing" on the highest level. I agree on the topic of mental strenght. It is very true that every driver who is on the grid must have enormous talent and every one of them can drive better than most of others in the world. Every on of them have basically put all their lives into racing from a young age. But when it comes to winning, the driver with the best mental strenght eventually comes on top. You also need a bit of luck too. Thats also one proven fact about success. But anyways the thing about mental strenght comes very important when you need to seek perfection. In F1 or any other sports theres really not much room for error if you wanna win. The competition has been reached to so high levels in todays world that that is how it is. Im not a huge Lewis fan but I really respect the way he has found his mental strenght and you can really see it. Its part of also how the whole story pans out. Lewis had the enormous talent right from the start but like he has said himself that he is on a way different level nowdays than back then. Lewis has found his way to stay on the top of his game. Come constantly back from the mistakes/missed opportunities. Constant improvement. Growing as a person in your personal life also. Its all about balance. That and the enormous driving talents makes Lewis superior to others. Its all about small things in the end on how you can find it but that helps you minimize the errors. Keeps you on top. Helps you to give every bit of you without hesitation. Without forcing yourself. It needs to be natural and relaxed at the same time. And for that you need millions of PRACTISE+ right MINDSET. And to add to this topic of the video. I think Valtteri is very talented driver but who is still searching a bit of himself. He hasnt found the ultimate mental strenght yet but I think he is still really strong in that. Thats the reason Lewis is giving Valtteri the credit time to time. Lewis said that "Valtteri comes always fresh (clear minded) on to the next weekend, no matter what".

Looking forward to it, but I think that this theme will have multiple opinions

8:16 Man, I was seeing the video with such seriousness, even paused the video to read that massive comment (which ofc culdn't agree more with), then played and 8:16 literally laughed LMAOOOOOOOOO

good for youtube to recommend me this after the slapping bottas got from russell at sakhir gp

who ever criticise Bottas think to this, Hes driving one of the 20 F1 cars in the circuit and you are NOT !!! and to LH all hats off for hes driving skills

Bottas against any other teammate would be incredible to see!

Awesome video mate, sorry ive not watched for a while! Missed your content! Bottas is a good driver but In my opinion he lacks fight! He rarely fights for a win in normally lands in his lap (Excluding a small handful of wins) He doesnt have that "Go for any gap" mentality, hes much more clinical and careful. This makes for some great qually laps and some easy race wins when he starts from the front row but I think it is the edge hes missing against Lewis.

Everything you said in this video is straight facts Ben

8:17 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 killed it

Ps. I think you've struck a healthy balance of information, opinion with a hint of "meme" culture for the GenZ'er. 😁👍 Keep up the good work.

I think bottas is the perfect level headed and fair team mate. No drama, no unnecessary crashes between teammates and just overall a solid driver. I think the relationship between lewis an valtteri is much better than nico and lewis before

Bottas is a fine driver, much like many others, but you are quite right in saying that he doesn’t have the “X” factor, that others had, including Hamilton, Senna, Clark etc. Whether he deserves criticism, that’s up to the individuals involved, however personally i find him frustrating. We want to see Lewis challenged simply because he has the same tools available to him. Plus I am sick and tired of those who criticise Toto and Mercedes who still believe Hamilton’s advantage/dominance is the result of team orders rather than talent. Great video BTW👍

I get a feeling from him that he hasn't come up with his own self yet and needs to embrace his ego to become a winner. Having maneuvered his way through and around such legends and big names sure would make it difficult for anyone to dare and take that step among them. I feel like he's still sort of dodging those he is supposed to face. I wish him all the best.

1:27 how dare you say Alex albon and Valtteri in the same sentence. Omg 😱

He's (to Lewis) what drivers like Jarno Trulli and Giancarlo Fisichella were to Fernando Alonso. Great drivers who could, on their day, challenge for race wins but never made the step up to genuine title challengers. None of them were/are bad drivers by any extent of the imagination but they're rarely spoken about in the same sentence as any of the greats when it comes to achievements and potential in the sport.

Great analysis of one of the enigmas of the present grid. When Bottas moved up from Williams I was delighted, I believed that he deserved to show the talent he had displayed in a top tier car and that he would really push Hamilton on to greater things. He has been a disappointment much of the time unfortunately. He takes the losses too hard and doesn't appear to extract the lessons from the failures - he just slumps. Hamilton has learnt how to dissect his mistakes, channel the negative energy, improve his game and move on and hence escape the negative energy trap. However in my opinion Bottas' major flaw is that he doesn't have the killer instinct. He will be remembered as just a journeyman driver who was offered the chance and squandered it.

4:19 What are the personal issues?

I agree VB is a great driver it’s just hard to shine next to LH. great video

So basically in Mercedes he is a wingman and if he would transfer to RB he would be a man with wings?

6th best? Who are the top 5?

Did u forget to mention george russel in ur video huh??

I'm just so over Bottas being a number two wingman driver who doesn't really have what it takes to consistently fight for the title in a car that's nigh on close to invincible. Bottas is agood midfield driver and good wingman to better drivers but I wish we had someone more aggressive , more consistent and more capable of consistently challenging the best drivers in that second Mercedes car.

5:19 😂😂😂that laugh 😂😂the ferrari 😂😂😂

In regards to the comparison between Nico and Valtteri, Nico had a reference point when it came time for him and Lewis to be teammates in F1. People shouldn't overlook/underestimate that. He had the experience of knowing what it's like to compete against Lewis in the junior categories and often lost to him. He would've known from the moment it was announced Lewis would be his teammate the challenge he would face. In a way, you can say Nico's experience racing against and often losing to Lewis in their youth made him the right guy that would be able to beat Lewis to a title under the right circumstances.

Very good analysis and analogy. BOT is a good driver, no more, no less indeed. The problem with BOT lies within himself. He can't accept he is no WDC material in this era amongst the 1st tier drivers like HAM, VER, LEC and RIC. VET is over it's prime, but I hope he still has that little of a brat from his RBR days. And when BOT accidently wins, he thinks he is a WC contender and becomes cocky and even arrogant. I am convinced some new drivers/ 2nd tier group will perform better in the same car like NOR, RUS and 'veterans' SAI en RAI. So the critics are BOTh yes and not justified.

Bottas just isn't championship material, an okay driver but is really under performing in the Merc allowing Max to catch him, and hes up against one of the very best ever at his absolute best, it's basically a wrap.

Name Change who dis

So what happened u gonna delete the other video 😳😂😂😂

Good analysis. I agree that Bottas is a solid driver, who gets a lot of unreasonable criticism, and for as long as that Mercedes with Hamilton at the wheel is enough better than Ferrari/Red Bull/?, Bottas is good enough. But look at 2018, had the Ferrari been a little better, Bottas could have cost Mercedes the Constructors' Championship, and Mercedes can't rely forever on Hamilton to carry the team. Without Hamilton, and without a better driver than Bottas to replace him, it's likely that Vettel would have won both the 2017 and 2018 seasons. I can see why Mercedes like Bottas, he's been good enough and he seems a harmonious driver for the team but, as a fan, I always want to see the best drivers get the best seats. Rosberg/Hamilton was a battle worth watching, Hamilton/Bottas just ain't. Roll on Russell in 2022.

Hello from🇫🇮 Bottas is too gentleman on the track a nice guy. Great team player and fast but not as fast as the champions. There's just something missing compared to drivers ive followed in their prime last 25 years, Häkkinen, Schumacher, Alonso, Räikkönen, Vettel, Hamilton, Verstappen and Russell...dont know yet for sure on other younger guys. But I hope im wrong and VB gets his eye of the tiger wide open for 2021👍

Why is it all the lazy people making videos always downplay that the 2014 to 2016 Mercedes was more dominant than the 2017 to 2020 ?

Being directly compared with what will be the most successful driver in F1 history at the end this season in his absolute prime and a team fully focused behind him to break all the records? I think you can cut Bottas some slack. What matters is that he can still outqualify Hamilton on occasion and that's against somebody who has 96 poles (the record by a wide margin). People just have to remember that Bottas put a Williams on the podium 9 times and finished the 2014 championship in 4th, ahead of both Vettel and Alonso. He also qualified a godawful 2013 Williams-Renault 3rd in Canada in his rookie season.

I definitely agree with you that Lewis has became a completely different driver since 2016. He did have the edge over Rosberg in 2013-2016 -- even in the last year where Rosberg stole the title, Lewis had more points, wins and podiums -- but Lewis has dramatically improved from that already very high point. I don't think Rosberg would be doing much better than Bottas is right now. The expectations for Bottas are way too high -- we should praise him massively for the days where he even gets close to Lewis, because getting close to 2017-2020 Lewis is something barely any F1 driver would be capable of.

2019 was Bottas's best season

When Michael was dominating, were there calls for Rubens' replacement? How about Mark Webber? DC with Mika? Sterling with Fangio? Berger with Senna? It's fair to say the introduction of social media affects how we interact with sports and it's athletes. Opinions, good or bad are much more personal, and much more pointed. Harassment and vulgar comments are but a click away. Sporting psychology and mental fortitude is something rarely talked about, but it has an immense effect on performance. Valterri's problem; as stated by Anthony Hamilton is Lewis Hamilton - and the pressure, scrutiny and commentary associated with sharing a team alongside him. Alonso ran from it in 07. Nico immediately retired after winning in 2016, citing physical/mental exhaustion. Joining the best team, driving the best car, against the best driver will invariably result in unrealistic degrees of criticism from those attempting to undermine Lewis' accomplishments while feigning neutrality. For them, there can be no excuse, as winning is merely the by-product of driving a mercedes.🤦‍♂️ I respect Bottas. I respect the way he goes about his racing. The same cannot be said about another blonde haired Finnish/German Monagasque. For every instance of underperformance directed at Valterri, I can point to several from nico. You point to Germany 2020 lockup which cost him the win? Nico did the same in monza 2014. Threw away the win and championship in Austin 2015 with "a gust of wind". Bottas struggled to make up places during Monza 2020? Nico went backwards in monaco 2016, losing another spot on the line to Hulkenberg's Force India. You mentioned not overtaking Seb in Bahrain, Nico spun trying to overtake max in Canada 2016, while having a substantial pace advantage. In hungary 2014, Nico started on pole and though unlucky with the SC, spent lap after lap unable to over JEV in a STR. This ultimately cost him the win, but instead moaned about lewis not letting him by under team-order after starting from the pitlane. To my mind, Bottas is every bit as good as nico. Both were excellent in quali but showed deficiencies during the races - both in pace and racecraft. Nico, like bottas has never overtaken lewis on track for the win. And unlike Rosberg, Valtteri has gone wheel to wheel on multiple occasions without incident. Has showed his metal in Germany 2020, Silverstone last year, Baku 2019, USA 2019 among others. Never felt it necessary to cause avoidable collisions or "park" his car hoping to induce yellow flags. Nico recently remarked how he's *NEVER* gone around the outside of lewis yet bottas did just that last race - an awesome move tbh.👌 Fans suffer from recency bias. A quick review of previous seasons ignoring the headline statistics will show, there really isn't much between Valterri Bottas and Nico Rosberg. I'd argue Bottas has it far worse because current Hamilton, is by far the best Hamilton we've ever witnessed and appears to be improving. As you've said, he no longer has "off" days. Is more studious. And maximizes his points haul, a hallmark of all the greats. Bottas isn't spectacular, rarely crashes, works well with the team and is a points magnet. What more could mercedes require from their "wingman". Alex on the other hand has 1 podium to his name, while the guy he replaced has won in a *FAR* inferior midfield car. Is eon's behind his teammate in both quali and race pace. Useless strategically, even as a moving chicane. Consistently finds himself in odd scraps against cars he shouldn't even be racing; going for audacious around the outside overtakes, while awesome if successful, often ends in tears with fans/critics left wondering "why". Here's an unpopular opinion, Alex Albon is driving worse than Lance Stroll. A driving many consider the poster child for nepotism. What does that say about the level he's operating at. Extremely disappointing. Without mercedes max would be "LOL'ing" his way to his first and youngest wdc with zero resistance. At least bottas manages to keep lewis honest.

I think Bottas is doing just fine and contributing to the constructor championship. Fans have certain biases over drivers. Let's compare him to Max for instance: When Max started out he was causing so many accidents. Remember Crashttapen? The fans were guess what? Silent. No criticisms. Then he started getting good results but taking a lot of risks, the type that a WC contender would not take. The fans went mad with praises comparing him to Senna. Today he is a good driver but still has not borne the responsibility of fighting for a championship. I also think that if that Vettel had a different passport, he could not have been in that Ferrari this year. There has been worse performances in the championship than Bottas. I think Bottas instead needs encouragement and support from many of you armchair critics. I have to admit however that the criticisms are justified because at times he lacks the killer or racer instinct. Does anybody wonder how being in such a seat brings all the pressure? He should be commended for putting up with the criticisms. My opinion is that many of these critics are paid to put out that hate and elevate other drivers. We all saw what that did to Gasly last year. Gasly actually needed encouragement and support. In conclusion, I think just like other sports, F1 social media fans as passionate as they are do not make very good judgement over strategic matters of teams. It is up to the teams to make objective decisions that are not based on hype. A driver like Daniel Ricardo should have been fighting for the championship this year if it were not for the politics of F1. I hope that Red Bull can also find a fast driver using a fair process like tests instead of listening to all the social media experts. Credit to BMPHF1 for putting out a good video that tries to address the issue of Bottas's performance

I agree Bottas is not a bad driver. He is a good one. Lewis is literally tied for all time most championships won 91 races. People need to get off Bottas’ back. Rosberg did his thing but Lewis is on a different level now then he was so its not fair to dog Bottas like he is not good. In that race where hamilton got the 10 second penalty at the worst time and still finished as high as he did was insane. Managed expectations. Be fare

People just want to see real racing, F1 needs a genuine battle between at lease two drivers to make it exciting. Due to the Mercedes being so far ahead of the rest, F1 fans want Lewis to have a worthy teammate that can challenge him every race, that would earn Lewis much more respect when he wins races.

the truth is that he gotta be replaced by George Russel

It all depends how you judge him as a driver from a number 2 driver pov like a Rubens or a Webber he’s doing his job absolutely fine but if you are expecting him to compete for championships you will have been disappointed with him over the past seasons 👍

Bottas is much less experienced than Rosberg was, when he was fighting Hamilton, and that`s why Bottas is behind.

Please do one on Albon.

8:17 no no no it's Mahaveer and Nicolas

8:17 is the best part of the video

I like Bottas, he’s comes across as a genuinely nice guy and on his day he’s very quick. However I have never felt he is top tier level even when he was driving for Williams. At the time I didn’t understand the hype and his performance since going to Mercedes hasn’t improved. As a teammate to a No1 he is ideal, but that’s it.

i.e. he is the almost perfect number 2 driver to a world champion. Good but not good enough to challenge him. Gives good feedback and plays well with the team and being happy playing second fiddle.

I feel like Bottas needs to understand his limitations as a driver and not try to compare himself to Hamilton. If Bottas were a serious force for Mercedes, he’d know it by now.

Bottas Sucks. Its pretty clear. Hamiltton was never unbeatable untill Bottas stepped in. Räikkönen, Vettel, and Rosberg have all beaten him in a fair game but Bottas has no change to do so. I hate when some people keep saying that Bottas is doing well. Hes doing very bad.

Bottas is a really quick driver and capable of winning races. Most of the time he is within two tents of Hamilton pace or closer, which is pretty impressive in my opinion. However, he doesn't seem to be able to take the momentum from Hamilton after one good weekend. He won the Austrian GP, which wasn't an easy race to win for him or Mercedes. But following week in the Styrian GP he couldn't match Hamilton for the entire weekend. Similar things happened in AUS 2019, Baku 2019 and Japan 2019. And I think he doesn't do himself any favours by saying that he has got a 'special' plan to beat Hamilton for WDC and trying to get back at his critics each time he wins a race.

He just around at the wrong time having said that he would’ve had to deal with Vettel at red bull and Michael Schumacher

Being Hamiltons team mate is like being Floyd Mayweathers sparing partner, you might be able to beat him on points in the first round (ie. qualifying) if you bring your A-game/he's having a bad day but over the next 15 he's going to punish you with skill and experience and make it look easy.

Robottas has himself to blame for failing for these past 4 years. He has himself to blame for saying he "won't give up" and by telling his critics to "go f*** themselves". Who does he think he is? A legitimate challenger to LH? Or a solid driver to secure Merc their constructor's championship? No one is forcing Robottas to take these 1yr contracts Merc keeps offering him. Does that make him feel legit? Don't think so. For sure Robottas deserves all the shade slung his way.

Can Valtteri manufacture their own x-gene? I hope so

Bottas is just having another 2018 season this year.

An X-Gene? Now, that is making things up to explain an unknown variable. How can Valtteri elevate his game? That is the real question. That Hamilton is superior and there is nothing to be done about it is not a fair categorical statement. It is possible that no one will raise their game to the level of Hamilton and defeat him on equal terms, but what if Hamilton retires and Max goes to Mercedes and then wins even more races than Hamilton? (I think that is plausible). What if Hamilton retires and Valtteri stays at Mercedes and wins multiple championships? (that is also plausible, and I think perhaps that Valtteri may be the 2nd best driver after Hamilton and perhaps even with Max). Valtteri is in a place where he has the best of everything and needs to figure out how to elevate things--I think he has already. The blow tire and retirement arguably cost him a 2nd place and win, and he would be much closer to Hamilton. Hamilton also has unusual luck, but he pushes his luck at times and get penalized for it. I don't know the answer for Valtteri, but I hope he can win at least one championship.

Leclerc and verstappen are good , but I believe that if Russell joins merc before Lewis's retirement , and enters his prime before Lewis's departure , he will be the one who will dominate f1 ... I can be wrong tho

Bottas this season was unlucky, the tire pop in great britain lost him 25 points instead of just 7 and he just had a dnf, if roles were switched maybe he would even win the championship, but just relying on his skill wont work because except in russia he is beaten in every area by lewis

Bottas lacks that "Foot on the neck" killer instinct. he's almost too nice of a guy especially on track. feels more like he's gun shy & hesitant to engage in wheel-to-wheel combat sometimes I wonder what happens when he's driving on the highway & some idiot cuts him off. I know for me I get *TRIGGERED* & my offensive driving gets activated immediately. he needs to develop that on & off switch for race day cause he can't keep getting swallowed up before turn 1 every race & he also needs to learn the art of the hunt, he had the perfect opportunity to hunt down Charles Leclerc back in 2019 Italian GP w/ fresher tires & he couldn't get the job done again just like Bahrain 2018

Hamilton is the absolute zen of racing drivers his consistent pace along with almost flawless tire management means that any other driver on the grid not just Botas needs to push over the limits of their car to beat him. Just like Schumacher when Hamilton is in the groove he is unbeatable.

A thing is whether Bottas is good enough or not but after 4 years i think drivers like Russell and norris should be given a shot to that Merc. Seat.

Problem in F1 is toxic media and toxic fans. Take the media for starters (not all media)..the disrespectful manner in which drivers are discussed would not be received well if viewers en-mass called for a certain network to change it crew coz they are bored with F1 and in turn make it boring for the fans by focussing on Max all year long! For that matter a point of view is subjective. If you talk about performance there are always variables so its a dangerous road to travel (if he didn't have a failure, if the rain didn't fall, etc)...so I always say tell us the story at hand and interview the drivers to get their perspective without angling personal agendas coz it is ruining F1! Max for eg has just collected the most podiums of his F1 career this season. All the 'media' are focussed on is the quality of the Merc product which they worked years to develop...so they have every right to choose their lineup. So yeah I feel the criticism of BOTTAS is way too harsh!

Rosberg in the same car as Hamilton was always at a similar pace. The would often finish races a couple of seconds apart. Mercedes realized that having 2 alpha drivers was detrimental to the team's atmosphere, so knowing that they had by far the most dominant car in F1 history, they put a B team driver in the second car, Had the Merc been at the same level as Ferrari or Red Bull and not over 1.5 sec per lap faster at virtually every circuit they would have a top driver in the 2nd seat. They have the luxury of having a castrated "yes" man as #2 driver. Bottas is nowhere near the level of Ricciardo, Max, LeClerc, etc, but they would expect to win the world title and not accept being the clear #2. Bottas is a decent driver and nothing more.

Yesss

Considering how Vettel is struggling compared to Leclerc Bottas isn't that bad, he's very quick in qualifying, unfortunately not as good in the race especially when defending or trying to overtake

This is exactly like Goku and Vegeta

I think it is justified. To me, he's a midfield driver in the top team. Certainly talented, but just not a Hamilton or a Verstappen. He was also VERY lucky to finish second in 2020 by nine points. Verstappen had five retirements versus Bottas having one. Pretty sure Max could have eclipsed Bottas were it not for that bad luck.

Bottas is not aggressive in nature, you can see it in his personality he is a shy person or timid person that’s why they Merc hired him, so Lewis can get records and and the constructers will always be in the bag due to no clashes

I think the main problem is that Mercedes is so far ahead of every other car that the only way the championship is interesting is between teammates. Bottas can't deliver on that promise. It doesn't mean Bottas is a bad driver, it means the fans want a titlefight. I don't think anyone watching F1 today is watching for the win, but for the midfield instead. We need a new world champion or at least a serious second contender.