‘I almost stopped, it was so close’ – Valtteri Bottas claims he nearly quit Formula 1 after racing with Lewis Hamilton

The former Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas has revealed that he almost quit Formula 1, after just two years of racing with Lewis Hamilton. The Finn joined Mercedes in 2017 to replace the outgoing 2016 World Champion Nico Rosberg, where he was promoted from the Williams team. Ad/> Bottas endured a promising first season with Mercedes, achieving three race wins to confirm third place in the drivers standings.

Canadian Grand PrixBinotto labels FIA technical directive a ‘mistake’ following Canadian Grand PrixYESTERDAY AT 14:24 However, he struggled in the 2018 season by managing no race wins and also witnessed his team-mate Lewis Hamilton pip Sebastian Vettel to the World Championship. Bottas revealed how he felt at that time and how close he was to packing up from Formula 1 altogether. He told the Motorsport magazine podcast: “At the end of 2018, I almost stopped, it was so close.

Just because of the fact that I couldn’t understand and take the fact that I couldn’t beat Lewis in those two years. “I put so much pressure on myself. Towards the end of ’18, especially when I started to have the support role in the team, I really couldn’t take it, I really struggled.

It was not fun. “The last four or five races of ’18 were more painful because you should enjoy F1 and it is pretty cool, but it wasn’t that at all. So I had a good break between the two seasons and really had to think things through.” Lewis Hamilton hopes Mercedes will be 'cautious on experiments' Verstappen battles to win in Montreal Bottas was also a scapegoat for the media at the time for his lack of success at Mercedes, which he believes had a huge impact on his mental state.