Can Bottas Challenge This Season?

[Paul Jeffrey]

Valtteri Bottas turned up in Melbourne a new man, complete with suspicious facial hair - and following an outstanding Australian Grand Prix, can the Finn take it to Hamilton this year?

2018 was arguably one of the most disappointing seasons in the career of Valtteri Bottas, the Finnish driver failing to win a Grand Prix in the finest car in the field, soundly beaten by his newly minted five time World Champion team mate.

Promising to reset and come out fighting in 2019, a statement few believed prior to Australia, Bottas never put a foot wrong in Melbourne to secure a resounding victory at Albert Park, firmly beating his British teammate and dominating the race right from the green flag.

The question to ask, is this a one off performance from Bottas - or a sign of things to come from the Mercedes man?

Do you think Bottas can pull off this kind of form all year and take the challenge to Hamilton? Let us know in the comments section below!

For more from the world of motorsport, head over to the Formula One sub forum here at RaceDepartment to get involved in the discussion today!

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[sjb266]

Looks like it! haha!

 

[M-Bimmer]

was that an outclassing today

 

[odiopower]

Can we have less F1 related post on the main page and have news ? This is just a post...Why has to be on the homepage?

 

[apex11]

It was very telling that the team radio when Lewis asked about going for fastest lap, responded with "OK it's enabled Lewis"
I make of that they have yet another engine mode for fastest lap that makes the Merc even faster for a short time.....
They have this season wrapped up already and for sure there is no way they would even let Bottas win the WDC even if he could...

I watched first few laps then fast forwarded to the last few laps.....

Has Lewis blamed something on the car or tyres yet?

 

[liby88]

he can win if toto let him , its just that simple

 

[Koen Verlinde]

It was very telling that the team radio when Lewis asked about going for fastest lap, responded with "OK it's enabled Lewis"
I make of that they have yet another engine mode for fastest lap that makes the Merc even faster for a short time.....
They have this season wrapped up already and for sure there is no way they would even let Bottas win the WDC even if he could...

I watched first few laps then fast forwarded to the last few laps.....

Has Lewis blamed something on the car or tyres yet?

Yes, he did.

 

[F1Aussie]

Would love to see him do it but no chance he can beat Hamilton over the course of the season unfortunately

 

[muzikant]

No Lewis dont let happen. The season is long.. is just a race

 

[Terry Rock]

I like Bottas but it is just too soon to tell if he can beat Lewis over the entire season.
He'd have to be exceptional...everywhere. Lewis is no slouch in an F1 car...despite what you may have heard.
It wasn't a fluke that Bottas won today.
He too, is a very good driver.
All the crap talk about him not winning a GP last year is just that...crap talk.
Sometimes the results do not accurately show the ability of a driver.

 

[ImMrJoker]

I'll just remind everyone that Berger also beat Senna from time to time and so did Irvine to Schumacher.
They were still never able to realistically challenge them throughout the entire season. There are still 20 races to go. Let's take each race as it is.

 

[BP]

I blame all the "Valterri, it's James..." Memes for this

Really happy Valterri hit the ground running with this 1st race...he needs to collect as many points as possible in these beginning rounds if he wants to gain support from Toto to challenge Lewis...whether he has the consistency in pace, mental stamina and luck (i.e. no mechanical issues) to take the fight to Lewis all season, too early to tell, but I'll be rooting for them both.

Plus it's a well known FACT that beards add approx +80 HP. Fear the Beard.

 

[ZuneGuy]

I like Bottas, he seems like a nice enough guy. But if he comes alive a bit more this season what does that say about his level of effort in previous years with the team - what you only do your best when your back is against the wall and your job is on the line. He had a great race today and leave it at that, but it is about time. Lewis just had a bad off the line start is all.