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Mercedes don't want the second-best driver on the grid to be Hamilton's teammate.
Unpopular Motorsport Opinions
- Thread starter Liquid
- 2,013 comments
- 196,425 views
Mercedes don't want the second-best driver on the grid to be Hamilton's teammate.
- 16,518
- Melbourne
- ScottPuss20
- CheetahsMeow
That decision will come back to bite them if Red Bull jump them in the constructor's championship... Bottas can't be Hamilton's rear gunner if he's stuck behind Verstappen and Perez. Verstappen DNF'd 5 TIMES in 2020 but was only 15 points behind Bottas. If we get a full season in 2021, he'll be in trouble if he doesn't perform.
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- 1,062
- Kansas City
Bottas is garbage. I hate him so much.
There are several drivers on the grid or outside that would be better suited to that seat.
Russell
Nick de Vries
I'd even give vandoorn a shot in a good car. Remember he dominated GP2.
Ocon, he has the balls to fight his teammate
There are several drivers on the grid or outside that would be better suited to that seat.
Russell
Nick de Vries
I'd even give vandoorn a shot in a good car. Remember he dominated GP2.
Ocon, he has the balls to fight his teammate
- 5,897
- Canada
Gosh, did he personally insult you or something?
- 1,062
- Kansas City
I wish he did, based on merit i dont think he deserves that seat.
We all know hes there to putt around behind Lewis so he can go smash records.
Pete05
Premium
- 7,101
- Melbourne, Australia
I have no doubt whatsoever that when Bottas was signed to Mercedes he was made aware that he is the #2 in the team. Team management got to see the trouble they had to deal with during the Hamilton/Rosberg years & they didn't want to go through that again.
The same thing applies at Red Bull. Max has been kissed on the dick by Marko as the anointed one & Perez will be in no doubt he is the #2 there.
Teams with a clear #1 and #2 driver choose not to deal with the inter-team political BS. They just want someone to follow their leader around & preferably score points for 2nd place, with the ability to win if anything happens to the #1.
Look back through F1 history at how many championships, both Driver's & Constructors, have been lost by the best team with the fastest cars thanks to teammates taking points off one another, or ending up in the gravel/wall from taking each other out.
The same thing applies at Red Bull. Max has been kissed on the dick by Marko as the anointed one & Perez will be in no doubt he is the #2 there.
Teams with a clear #1 and #2 driver choose not to deal with the inter-team political BS. They just want someone to follow their leader around & preferably score points for 2nd place, with the ability to win if anything happens to the #1.
Look back through F1 history at how many championships, both Driver's & Constructors, have been lost by the best team with the fastest cars thanks to teammates taking points off one another, or ending up in the gravel/wall from taking each other out.
- 22,551
- Arizona
- HamiltonMP427
That's not unpopular though in the frame you've put it, it seem a bit driven by dislike. The guy does his job actually which is plat rear gunner and get a win if he can, and usually pick up the slack on the rare brain fart Hamilton races.
All in all Mercedes didn't make a bad choice they made a safe one. What you and other fans want =/= what helps Mercedes as a team meet their bottom line.
This is a disingenuous stat because it only highlights the bad things that happened to Max while seemingly suggesting Bottas had no issues.
Bottas failed to finish on points in 3 races himself. And had another race where a failed pit stop cost him more points than it should have.
Also you're arguing about a Mercedes number 2 driver barely beating RBRs number 1 driver...
In other words even if Max beats out Bottas, and Bottas finishes third in the WDC. Mercedes will still win the WCC. Even if Bottas finished 4th and Hamilton won it could still mean a win for Mercedes.
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- 5,897
- Canada
Regardless of whether he is a brilliant driver or a garbage driver, I cannot wrap my head around why there is a genuine hatred of Bottas. He seems like a nice guy who isn't doing so hot in his seat this year, yet people act as if that's reason to be malicious against him. I'm genuinely baffled how people can get so emotional so easily.
Off the top of my head:
British GP: Tire blew while he was in 2nd place. Ended up out of the points.
Italian GP: This seems like the closest race he had where his performance was a genuine, unquestionable dud, although he claimed to have problems with his car. Ended up 5th.
Eifel GP: Power unit failure. Did not finish.
Imola GP: Picked up debris from lap 2 onwards, though still finished on podium.
Turkish GP: Damaged his car on lap 1 and caused his steering to be off centre for the rest of the race. Ended up out of the points.
Bahrain GP: Got a puncture that dropped him from 4th to 16th, though he managed to climb back up to 8th.
Sakhir GP: Was holding 2nd until the pit stop blunder. Ended up 8th again.
- 4,231
- UK
While i agree he may not be the second best driver on the grid, I think he's not far from it. I'd say he's on-par with Ricciardo and Perez if anything, I do think Verstappen is better though. I don't think Mercedes made the wrong choice in him at all.
I think the hate he receives is unwarranted really, but i can understand where that hate is coming from.
Personally I'd like to see him retain his seat, as he does his job well enough but i feel once his contract runs its course, he'll probably be replaced by Russell.
Just for the record as well, having been lucky enough to spend a little time with some of Bottas' work colleagues, they all speak very highly of him. I haven't personally met him myself, but I've been told he's genuinely a really nice guy.
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- 5,897
- Canada
- 13,078
- United Kingdom
Unpopular Opinion (seemingly because y'all are too negative)
Bottas and Stroll get WAAAAAAAY too much hate. Neither are terrible drivers and both are quick enough to be in the seats they currently sit in. Bottas only gets so much hate because there are so many Hamilton-hating crybaby's on the internet.
Bottas and Stroll get WAAAAAAAY too much hate. Neither are terrible drivers and both are quick enough to be in the seats they currently sit in. Bottas only gets so much hate because there are so many Hamilton-hating crybaby's on the internet.
- 5,897
- Canada
I also suspect the hate for Bottas stems from the fact that Hamilton has remained fairly unchallenged for the past two seasons, and makes the sport seem boring to many. With Bottas being the closest possible rival to Hamilton, he receives a lot of the misdirected hate as his lack of competitiveness isn't making the sport anymore interesting.
As for Stroll, I feel that he has shown visible progression from the start of the season to the end, and with the arrival of his pay-driver foil, Mazepin, I'm sure people's perception of Stroll will only improve.
- 29,959
- Bratvegas
- GTP_Liquid
I posted the same thing about Bottas a short time ago. I don't particularly like Lewis Hamilton but I agree with you. Agree with Stroll as well. There have been so many worse pay drivers than him.
Bottas has done exactly what Mercedes wants and what Hamilton wants. Just grit your teeth and bear it until he or Hamilton moves on.
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- 13,078
- United Kingdom
The thing to remember about Stroll is that he is still very young. He scored a Pole Position at a younger age than Lewis Hamilton, so he has plenty of time to have a career, he just needs to keep improving (which he is clearly doing) to shut everyone up. Its just that Verstappen's early start has kind of thrown perceptions of age out the window and experience is what counts now.
Still, Stroll could win the drivers title next year and still be slandered as much as he currently is. Stroll is one of the best drivers on the grid in the wet and deserves praise and credit for that.
Still, Stroll could win the drivers title next year and still be slandered as much as he currently is. Stroll is one of the best drivers on the grid in the wet and deserves praise and credit for that.
- 9,262
- Corsham
- lipming
It's been four years and he's conclusively proved he can't do it. Even if he could the team won't let him. Next year will be no different from this year. He'll win the first race then start making mistakes left right and centre while Hamilton runs away with the title.
- 5,897
- Canada
- 29,959
- Bratvegas
- GTP_Liquid
In his debut season, Stroll drove the last Williams that was even remotely competitive and scored a podium, just a few thousandths off a second place.
Outpaced his teammate the next year asTyrrell Williams fell to the back of the grid.
Last season was admittedly not too spectacular as he was up against Perez, the driver widely regarded as best of the rest. But as @Jimlaad43 says, his wet weather prowess showed with a 4th place in that German Grand Prix.
This season he only finished outside the points once and bagged two podiums. He showed his wet weather prowess by taking pole in Turkey and commanding 2/3rds of the race. All this still alongside Sergio "Everybody's Favourite" Perez.
He's been competitive in three out of his four seasons so far. He's fine. Let him learn and develop; he's still only 22. It's not like he's 33 and on his way out the door.
Outpaced his teammate the next year as
Last season was admittedly not too spectacular as he was up against Perez, the driver widely regarded as best of the rest. But as @Jimlaad43 says, his wet weather prowess showed with a 4th place in that German Grand Prix.
This season he only finished outside the points once and bagged two podiums. He showed his wet weather prowess by taking pole in Turkey and commanding 2/3rds of the race. All this still alongside Sergio "Everybody's Favourite" Perez.
He's been competitive in three out of his four seasons so far. He's fine. Let him learn and develop; he's still only 22. It's not like he's 33 and on his way out the door.
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- 9,262
- Corsham
- lipming
He shouldn't be in that seat. At the moment no other team has a car that can give their drivers a legitimate run at the title. Hamilton's basically being handed it on a plate as he's only having to fight one person for it, and most of that fighting happens in qualifying. Hamilton and Rosberg had a few collisions in their time but that no effect on Mercedes' ability to storm away with both titles completely unchallenged. Without their rivalry 2014-2016 would be completely forgettable. There was a good title fight but the racing sucked, and now is there is no title fight but the racing behind them is amazing.
- 5,897
- Canada
- 9,262
- Corsham
- lipming
Either stop pretending he's a title contender or completely revise his racecraft.
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Bottas saying "I'm not here to challenge for the title" would be too transparent. It's a work. He has to publicly pretend that he has a chance of going for it.
It's been said umpteen times now, Hamilton is way more comfortable with an easy number two who will not or is not allowed to push him. Can't blame Bottas for that. He's fulfilling his obligation to his team and being paid handsomely for it. There's no point complaining about it. Just swallow it up and move on.
- 13,078
- United Kingdom
He wins races when Hamilton doesn't, he pushes the best qualifier of all time in qualifying and does a solid #2 job, just like Barrichello did under Schumacher. It's exactly the same thing, but having Bottas there keeps Mercedes winning. Why change it when it works? You say he shouldn't be in that seat, but that's only from an entertainment point of view. What's the point in promoting someone into Bottas' seat if they A: crash into Lewis all the time and hand the title to Red Bull or B: be even slower than Bottas and gift Red Bull a million points. Gasly and Albon have clearly shown in the past two years that good car doesn't automatically mean easy wins. Bottas is still a brilliant driver because he can get poles and wins in the car against one of the fastest drivers in the sport's history. Most of the grid in Bottas' seat would get trounced by Hamilton anyway. He is clearly an immense behind-the-scenes worker or Mercedes would have binned him after the winless 2018 season - Bottas isn't going anywhere because the driver pairing is harmonious, something Mercedes needs after the disaster that was Hamilton vs Rosberg. I know lots of people want to see Mercedes and Hamilton toppled, but it CLEARLY does not work like that. Why would a company and team consciously and deliberately shoot themselves in the foot like Ferrari did in 2020? A collapse down the grid like that needs to come from some internal factors, not a rash decision in the form of "oh, some anti-us crybaby's on the Internet didn't like our driver so we got rid of him for someone who's going to tear this team apart from the inside". Mercedes is a team of winners because they've worked out the formula, and Bottas is part of that formula whether you like it or not.
Bottas would beat Rosberg to the titles if it had been Hamilton who left the team. after 2016.
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- 9,262
- Corsham
- lipming
I don't expect Mercedes to wilfully change anything. I just don't the fact that there is one driver in the title fight now when in recent history we've had as many as five fighting for it at once. Three or four races in you know it's gonna happen and it's just a case of waiting for it. The only consistent challenge he's received this year was sometimes having to start 2nd...to the win the race anyway either because Bottas bottled the start or the car let him down. It just being the way it is doesn't mean I have to like it. If we get to Australia 2022 and Hamilton gets pole, viewership is gonna go down the toilet.
- 9,401
- Western Sydney
- mustafur
Completely disagree about Nyck De Vries, don't rate him higher then his ability just because he dominated in a season he had way more experience then his rivals, he got beaten in a season that Russell and Norris where Rookies and he was in his second season with a Prema Seat(who most would argue are the best team in junior formula in any category they are in).
You can't compare drivers coming into F1 to established drivers, most established drivers where over whelming dominant junior drivers because rarely to you get a season that has two WDC talent drivers in the same season of junior formula, and even half of the very strong junior formula drivers are not at the level for F1 because they are getting results in weak seasons.
Don't insult everyone's intelligence, Bottas was barely better then post peak Massa, who Most would argue wasn't the same after 2009 Hungary and for good reason, Rosberg was a Solid driver and TBH his qualifying record only got better against Hamilton the longer they where paired.
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- 5,897
- Canada
I don't think Bottas is even pretending to believe that he has a chance for the title, I think he sincerely wants to try his hardest to beat Hamilton, which, of course, is no easy task. For him to begin every season with the renewed belief that he can do it is genuinely admirable. He has mentioned how getting beat by Hamilton year after year is taking a mental toll on him, and unfortunately, the trolls on social media are also getting to his head with his need to detach from social media in the time around the Sakhir GP.
- 16,518
- Melbourne
- ScottPuss20
- CheetahsMeow
Seems like I caused a bit of a ruckus by suggesting that Bottas isn't a good enough rear gunner.
- 5,897
- Canada
Few doubt the claim that he isn't a top driver. That is a fairly well-supported claim to make. The issue is when people treat him as the anti-Christ and spew unwarranted insults at the guy. But that is the internet I suppose, where everyone is allowed to feel superior behind the safety of their online identity.
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- 5,551
- Controls set for heart of sun
- GTP_RogerTheHors
Bottas is an A-tier driver while Hamilton is an S-tier driver, and sometimes the difference really shows.
- 1,062
- Kansas City
I wouldn't say that, seems like an accurate assessment to me. Considering its factual.
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