[Saba Sports News] On the Formula 1 stage where teamwork and individual brilliance coexist, role division is often crueler than race results. Former Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas recently opened up, admitting that he nearly quit the sport after spending years playing the wingman to Lewis Hamilton — an experience that still leaves him with mixed emotions to this day.
Bottas joined Mercedes in 2017, replacing the retired Nico Rosberg, a move widely seen as a major career breakthrough. Reality, however, turned out differently. Though he claimed ten race victories across five seasons, he was permanently cast in a supporting role within the team, repeatedly ordered to yield position to Hamilton or take on defensive tactical duties in decisive Grand Prix. In a lengthy personal article, Bottas recalled that at the start of the 2018 season, he firmly believed he had what it took to compete for the world title. Yet he ended the season without a single win, with multiple potential victories sacrificed to team orders. He felt he had no choice but to be a compliant teammate. It was this inner conflict that gradually drained his passion for racing.
Worse still, the mental pressure brought by this fixed role kept building up. Bottas admitted that online comments labelling him as a second-string driver pushed him into deep self-doubt, leaving him feeling low-spirited and burnt out. Looking back on those years, Bottas does not deny the value of teamwork nor harbour resentment toward anyone, but that period reshaped his entire understanding of Formula 1.
In my opinion, there is no evidence in public records to prove that Lewis Hamilton personally bullied Valtteri Bottas. On the contrary, Bottas’ own interviews and accounts make it clear: the root problem lies not with Hamilton as an individual, but with the team-defined “second driver” role and the immense mental toll it brings.