Valtteri Bottas: “There still might be opportunities” in catching Lewis Hamilton

Second place in the drivers standings Valtteri Bottas feels “there still might be opportunities” in catching Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton in the World Championship with seven races left on the calendar.

Bottas sits 63 points behind Hamilton’s leading total of 284 and having signed a new contract with Mercedes for 2020 the Finn is looking to have a strong finish to the year having had poor performances in that latter stages of 2017 and 2018.
 
“It’s definitely a better feeling going forwards, I feel very good support from the team,” said Bottas (quoted by MotorsportWeek).
 
“The points gap between me and Lewis for sure is a gap but it’s not like night and day.
 
“You never know what happens in the championship, there still might be opportunities. There’s no point giving up as we have seven races and things can happen. I’ll take it race by race.
 
“For sure it’s encouraging for me to see I can perform and there’s no doubt from my side that I can.
 
“I will be able to be at my best, and when title hopes and motivation is there, I know I can do it. I’ll look forward to Singapore.”
 
Ferrari claimed their first wins of the season with Charles Leclerc taking back to back victories at Spa and Monza, but Bottas believes Mercedes will have the advantage in Singapore.
 
“I think Singapore on paper is definitely better for us compared to Ferrari, and we were very close to them [in Italy], so it should be good,” he added.
 
“Obviously we need to wait and see, it is a special track, very hot conditions, and unique in what it needs mechanically from the car.

“There’s been many races I’ve been able to turn around this year that have been difficult in the past, that I’ve been able to be competitive, so I’m aiming to do that in Singapore.”