How good is Bottas ?

The lack of the winning spirit, killer instinct, eye of the tiger

 

As long as someone will defer to Elton, his fans will talk up anyone that drives alongside him, I bet my dead granny would be viewed as a good driver by the Elton brigade if she was in the second Merc..... laughable really if not so transparent and cynical. Bottas a good driver..... the guy has no biting desire to win, only one to pick up his paycheck and be patted on the head after the race. I don’t blame him for the former, he isn’t up to the job of racing properly so why not collect the big money he gets for his vanilla performances, but being the pet of Toto and the arrogant diva is something I find distasteful.

I’d rather someone that fought against the obvious bias of Toto and the Rat (RIP) such as Rosberg, who bar some dangerous lunges from Elton, embarrassing team orders and decisions, and rather dubious mechanical failures at the most imperfect time, would have won at least one more title, maybe even two more, and actually matched Elton on a weekly basis. Rosbergs only problem was that he was a gentleman, and believed you should act properly, and so let Elton get the edge over him by refusing to be a bully boy like Elton himself

 

Sid, I wouldn't say he (bottles) is not a good driver, but definitely not a good racer!

 

He just stuffed the car on the wall, i say he sucks!

 

That's a good idea.
But not sure Toto has the stomach for such, despite talking the talk.

 

Bottas is "smashing" good!

 

That represents about 3/4 of the grid !

 

I thought he was a right f-ing clown last year...but this season he’s been pretty solid. Consummate wingman actually.

 

Solid number 2

 

That’s a bit harsh on Bottas. He isn’t a no hoper. He’s just mid pack.

 

Exactly. Elton CANNOT be friends with someone who can beat him and especially someone who HAS beaten him. To be fair, that's not unique to him in F1, but he's the worst....

 

He does exactly what we was hired to do. No reason to replace him as long as they intend for Prince Lewis to win.

 

He kept it close with Hamilton today

 

He's very obedient. We'll give him that.

 

Yes.
The most obedient puppy in the paddock

 

He gets paid $9M a year to play second fiddle on what has been up to now the best F1 team , why screw it up , life is good , he won’t see that kind of money again once he leaves MB .

 

Yes true, but when he calls it a day he will be remembered as Lewis' personal little *****. That's not really what you want to be remembered as.

 

He is lucky to be where he is given his talent , at best a solid midfielder, even gets to win a race once in a while on a good day . $9million ***** lol , not bad

 

Every driver I've met entered the sport to win.
Money is a secondary consequence.
The frustration will be chewing him up inside for years.
The only plus is he's not playing butler in a midfield team

 

100% they wanna win but comes the time when reality sets in , you realize you don’t cut it no matter how hard you try , especially when you can’t do it in the best car . I disagree with the money part , it is always about the money , when you have it it matters less but nevertheless, when the chips are down , it is about the money

 

Except when he was fighting Kimi in the Ferrari and running into him at every chance.

 

He clearly isn't and never will be close to Rosberg's level, he showed his limits a several times, even if you just look back at this season, he drives the best car but can't compete regularly with Hamilton as Nico did back in 2016, he got a contract extension mainly because he is happy with his second place

 

For what Mercedes wants he's the perfect driver.

For us to decide, how can we when MB won't let him be anything more than #2?

 

People seem to forget that Bottas only got the job by accident when Rosberg bottled it and ran away from F1 leaving the Merc seat suddenly empty. Merc had to take whatever warm body they could get and Bottas was the only man standing. Nice slice of luck. Now he’s a GP winner on $9m a year. His career has hit its peak and he’s doing a great job of clinging on for as long as possible. Being a good lapdog, as demonstrated at Singapore, comes so easy and naturally to him because he is at peace with his position. Good for him.

 

Mercedes have a clear set of rules, and if left to race normally in Singapore Bottas would have been P4, Lewis P5. He cant' be happy with the result but thats what he is paid to do, and if the positions were reversed with Bottas losing out in a team undercut, they would ask LH to give the place back. Valterri is a very hard working team player, thoroughly deserving of a hard earned seat. Some of our participating armchair experts have no idea what it takes.