Johannesburg:Mercedes driver Valterri Bottas will not attempt to play any mind games with his team-mate and four-time world champion Lewis Hamilton over the course of the 2018 as he believes it is a waste of energy.
Bottas is reportedly facing criticism of having a lack of killer instincts as he is fighting once again for a new Mercedes contract extension after his current deal with the team is set to expire at the end of the upcoming season.
However, Bottas seemed to be in no mood to try to get under Hamilton’s skin and create drama as he said that he just focusing on winning as much Formula One races as possible.
“I just want to win as many races as I can and that way the championship, I don’t need to change anything else what I do.I’m not going to start for example playing any mental games or anything in the team, because I think like this it works well. It is up to me how I perform on track, and I’ll decide if I’ll show muscle when it’s needed,” Sport24 quoted Bottas, as saying.
The Finish driver further said that he is not going to hold on his weaknesses and would rather concentrate on spending his energy and focus on performing well on track.
“Every driver has weaknesses, that’s how it goes, but rather than focusing too much on him I’m going to spend my energy and focus on myself and my performance on track, and if I perform at the level that I’m aiming to every single race, I hope that will do the job.I’m not going to start waste my energy playing any games,” he added.
In 2016, Bottas had signed a one-year deal to replace suddenly-retired Nico Rosberg as Hamilton’s new teammate at Mercedes for the 2017 season.
The 28-year-old later extended his stay at Mercedes after a new one-year deal was agreed to by the team.
Bottas first season with the German team saw him winning the first three races, but the Finnish driver was largely outplayed by Hamilton who bagged nine wins in 2017 to eventually clinch his fourth Formula One title.
The 2018 F1 season will start on March 25 when the drivers will line up in Melbourne, Australia.
ANI