Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff is expecting Valtteri Bottas to be a strong competitor in 2019 after his “mental setback” this season. The Finn has slipped into a support role for Lewis Hamilton and is aiding his teammate’s push for a fifth world title.
Bottas is yet to win a race this season but came close recently in Russia, where he was leading the race ahead of Hamilton. However, Mercedes intervened with team orders and instructed Bottas to let Hamilton by for the good of the championship.
Wolff says that the situation is very tough for Bottas, but is expecting the former Williams driver to come back even stronger in 2019: “I think we have to remind ourselves that for a race driver who is channelling all his efforts into winning races and the championship, if you take that ability away from him, it would automatically cause a little bit of a mental setback.