Peter Windsor has blasted Valtteri Bottas despite his Turkish GP win, saying that he lost his Mercedes seat due to his lack of drive.
Bottas took his tenth F1 win of his career, taking a dominant victory at the Turkish GP. The pole sitter led most of the race and did not put a foot wrong at Istanbul Park. He will be leaving Mercedes at the end of the season, so a win was huge for him.
However, Windsor blasted Bottas despite his win, saying that he shouldn’t be celebrating given his habits and work the last few years.
In his video, Windsor said, “When he was in his Williams days and early Mercedes days, he was very self-critical and learning and improving on areas that weren’t working as well as the other driver in the other car.
“Over the last five years, he hasn’t been doing that. He works on many other things. In the simulator, fitness and that, but he hasn’t been doing is working on things like the rate of which he comes out of the brake pedal, for example.
“All those things that Lewis (Hamilton) does so well and that you can’t learn on a simulator. He hasn’t been doing that. I think that’s also another reason Bottas has struggled against Lewis and as a result, has lost his drive.
“He will now think ‘I’ve shown them I’m as good as anyone in difficult conditions, but he will also think ‘I’ve lost the seat.’ Not a great feeling.
“Of course, he will be positive to work for Alfa Romeo, but it is a shame when you see how well he drove for Mercedes this weekend, that he isn’t staying with Mercedes,” he concluded.
Solid, not spectacular
Bottas will depart Mercedes for Alfa Romeo at the end of the season. He has had a great five years at Mercedes. With him in the team, Mercedes has won the Constructors’ Championship every single season.
They will look to see Bottas off with another one to add to his CV. Meanwhile, the Finn will look to try and go for win number eleven, and more after that.
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