Valtteri Bottas: “I’m me, I’m not Nico” on tactics for 2020 title

Back in 2016 it was the only year since in the hybrid era that a World Championship was not won by Hamilton after teammate Nico Rosberg pipped the Brit to the title by five points, retiring from Formula 1 five days later, opening up the seat to Bottas.
 
The Finn has produced one of his best seasons yet for the Silver Arrows, winning four races and guaranteeing himself a second-place finish but is still focused on becoming World Champion.
 
“[To be] very honest. Already bored about that question because every driver is individual,” said Bottas when asking if he was going to be more aggressive or political to Hamilton.
 
“I’m me, I’m not Nico.
 
“For sure I always have plans finding how I want to achieve my goal which is ultimately the championship that requires me to beat my teammate but also many other drivers.”
 
The Finn knows that if he is performing well and consistently it can cause a bit of an upset on the other side of the garage, whilst fully knowing what that is like himself.
 
“I’ve always preferred to do the talking on track,” he added.
 
“If I can keep up my performance and focus all my energy that I have into my own performance I think that is going to be the best bet for me. If I start wasting energy elsewhere it might take my mind off the driving and what really matters.
 
“If I can then perform at the level I want to normally that tends to upset the other side of the garage a little bit. I know being on the other side as well it can lead to mistakes and so on.
 
“I have a plan for next year and not really willing to share it, so we’ll find out."