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“I Don’t Know If I Should Cry or Laugh” – Valtteri Bottas Reflects on His Mercedes F1 Bad Luck

Published 08/17/2021, 8:52 AM EDT

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via Reuters

Since the start of the season, Valtteri Bottas has been involved in a persistent run of bad luck which has eventually cost him several championship points.

During the Monaco Grand Prix, the Finnish driver was running strong in second place. But as Bottas entered the pit lane, he never came back out because of the jammed wheel nut, marking the second botched pit stop of the season.

With the series of unsatisfactory results at the start of the season, Valtteri Bottas has been heavily rumored with a move away from Mercedes. In addition, 23-year-old George Russell is considered as the front runner to replace the Finnish driver at Silver Arrows.

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Meanwhile, the 2019 and 2020 driver’s championship runner-up Bottas has opened up on the series of bad luck in Formula 1.

Watch Story: Toto Wolff Swears, Valtteri Bottas Bares: Funniest Moments From Drive to Survive

What did Valtteri Bottas say?

As quoted by the Hypebeast, when asked about the persistent run of bad luck this season, Valtteri Bottas replied, “It’s not fun. Sometimes I don’t know if I should cry or laugh because it almost feels like there’s been an incredible amount of bad luck happening. Sometimes there’ll be things you can’t affect so you just need to try and move on.

via Reuters

“What hurts the most is if I make a mistake myself and if I have a bad weekend, because I haven’t performed at the level I should be performing at. That’s more painful and I am always trying to learn from each situation.

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“It’s not been the best season with mixed results and lacking pace, but here we are and there’s still a long, long year ahead,” added the Finnish driver.

Being Lewis Hamilton’s teammate is not easy: Bottas

Valtteri Bottas replaced the outgoing 2016 world champion, Nico Rosberg, at Mercedes in 2017. Since then, the former Williams driver has secured 17 pole positions, 53 podiums, and nine victories.

However, the Finnish driver reveals being the teammate of the seven-time world champion, Lewis Hamilton is extremely difficult.

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“Being Lewis’ teammate is not easy because he’s pretty fast, both in qualifying and especially in the races. It makes me push myself more and always try to dig deeper or try new things because I know I need to give absolutely everything I can if I want to beat him,” said Valtteri Bottas.

via Reuters

“It’s also been really enjoyable, to be honest. We’ve been able to work really well as a team and if you look back at the last four years, we’ve managed to achieve great things as a team, so it keeps me working hard,” added Bottas.

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REPORTS: Mercedes & Red Bull Oppose as F1 Talks Fail Over Using Identical Pit Stop Equipment

Can Valtteri Bottas turn his fortune around in the second half of the season? What do you think? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Written by:

Pingaksh Sharma

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Pingaksh Sharma is an F1 author at EssentiallySports. He has been following this sport since India hosted the Grand Prix in 2012 and has been an ardent supporter of the eventual race winner, Sebastian Vettel. He is also a fan of Max Verstappen and Red Bull and hopes the former breaks the Lewis Hamilton dominance.
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