Valtteri Bottas believes he would be fighting Lewis Hamilton “flat-out” for the championship without the bad luck that has often set him back this season.
The Finn held his own at Mercedes in the early part of the season, contending for outright wins in Shanghai and Baku until unfortunate circumstances wreaked havoc on his chances of victory.
More opportunities for big points were squashed in France, where he was collected by Sebastian Vettel at the start, and in Austria where a hydraulics issue put him out of the race after just 13 laps as he was running second behind Hamilton.
Left in the dust of his team mate in the drivers’ standings, Bottas was eventually relegated to a clear n°2 at Mercedes, at his leader’s service.
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Wolff: Team orders may have caused ‘mental setback’ for Bottas
The 28-year-old is reluctant to do the math, but knows that without the loss of so many points, the title fight would currently be a very different story.
“I don’t know in deep detail how the points would have been,” Bottas said.
“I don’t like to calculate those things because in the end after each race that is the situation you’re in and you’re always trying to then make the best out of the future.
“But when you have many setbacks in a row then at some point it kind of becomes a bit of a joke and that’s for me how I felt at some point this year,” he added.
“If we would be now with not a big points difference or anything then for sure we would be both fighting flat-out for the championship but we’re not, he is and I am not.”
Bottas is determined to secure a race win – circumstances permitting – before the end of the season, and return to battle with Mercedes in 2019 a stronger and better driver.
“My goal is for sure to try and be stronger. One day things will come together,” he explained.
“I think performance-wise every race this season I’ve been able to perform better than last year and that’s what I try to continue to keep doing with this team all the time, learning.
“I am very keen to be better next year and hopefully that will bring those results.”
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