Valtteri Bottas is facing one of his most difficult challenges since joining Mercedes in 2017. With just 59 points from the first seven races, the Finn is far off his teammate Lewis Hamilton in the driver’s championship.

In addition, it seems the Silver Arrows look set to replace the Finn with George Russell next season. With Bottas clearly struggling, former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya gave his views on Bottas’ mindset at Mercedes.

Montoya believes Mercedes are ‘attacking’ Valtteri Bottas

In the past couple of seasons, Bottas has been the most realistic contender after Lewis Hamilton in the championship. While teams like Red Bull struggled with reliability, the Finn was in the only car capable of challenging the dominant Briton.

However, Max Verstappen is taking the fight to Hamilton this season in a more lethal manner than Bottas. Despite taking three podiums this season, the Finn looked far off the pace of the two championship contenders across the seven races so far.

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While Bottas is clearly struggling this season, Mercedes’ comments in the past haven’t helped his situation a lot. Speaking to Motorsport.tv, Montoya referred to the Finn’s incident in Monaco, where Toto Wolff partially blamed him for the disastrous pit-stop that ended his race.

He said, “Instead of working together and saying, ‘we had an issue,’ they went afterwards and said, ‘Oh, you know he just didn’t stop in the right place’ instead of going, ‘Oh, maybe the guy with the gun didn’t put the gun completely straight.’

“So, it just seems, I think, in his mind they’re attacking him.”

READ MORE: WATCH: Valtteri Bottas Gives Tour Of Mercedes’ Special Motorhome

Montoya: Mercedes need to make a decision on Bottas

The Colombian thinks the Silver Arrows need to decide on the best way forward as soon as possible. He believes this will help the Finn stay focused for the rest of the season while also improving relationships in their garage.

“They either commit to him and say, ‘Look, we’re with you and things will get a lot better,'” said Montoya. “And I think, either way they decide they need to go, they need to make a decision quick. Because it will make the relationship a lot easier once the decision is made.”

Although the Finn is far from challenging for the title at the moment, he has a chance to set things straight at the Styrian Grand Prix this weekend. Bottas can take motivation from the fact that he finished second in the Styrian mountains last time out, which could be the confidence booster he needs.

Can the 31-year-old upset the championship contenders by taking his first win of the season on June 27?

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