Valterri Bottas has admitted that he feels he put himself under too much pressure in previous F1 seasons, and that he has to work to get the balance right in order to perform at his best. The Finn has spoken of how his preparations for 2021 have involved looking at the mental aspect as well as the physical to ensure that he is approaching each race weekend with the right approach, something he thinks he probably has not always managed to do in the past. "Some of my years in Formula 1, definitely I put too much pressure on myself," Bottas told RacingNews365.com among others. "There have been times where I've taken too much pressure from outside. Also vice versa, [sometimes] there's not been maybe enough pressure from my side. "It's all about finding that balance and playing with that. The only thing to really let the team know in terms of how much they're pressuring you is to discuss things and it's the same thing with myself. I need to be honest with everything, and try to find a good way and happy head for every grand prix." Bottas admits that finding this balance of how much pressure to apply is not an easy task though. "That's the tricky part," the Mercedes driver said. "And that's the same thing in every sport. There's not been an athlete ever who's been completely 100 percent of their performance capacity in every single event they've done. But how to get there more often, that's the question." Bottas is about to embark on his fifth season with Mercedes in 2021, where he will once again go up against teammate Lewis Hamilton. The Finn finished the 2020 season in second place in the drivers' championship, but with Max Verstappen finishing a very close third Bottas will be hoping to improve on this going forwards.
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