F1 2018: Top 5 Worst Driver Performances

#4 Valtteri Bottas

Bottas was fuming after Russia but it summed up his 2018.

Here's a controversial one, but let me explain.

Being Lewis Hamilton's team-mate is an unenviable task because the bar is set so astronomically high that most drivers could put in the performance of their lives but still fail to match the five-time world champion.

In 2017, nobody expected Bottas to come close to Hamilton, but the Finn did put in some impressive performances, including picking up his first F1 win in Russia. However, 2018 was a poor campaign from the Finn, suffering from bad luck and producing some below-par drives.

The season got off to a rocky start for Valtteri, spinning at the opening qualifying session in Australia and starting 15th after a gearbox penalty. He made progress in the race, but dealing with traffic proved to be a difficult affair, crossing the line in 8th place.

Bottas was the only driver from the top 3 teams to not win a race and on two occasions bad luck cost him the first place. Picking up a puncture with just a few laps to go in Baku and being told to move over by his team while in the lead of the Russian Grand Prix, although the latter was due to Bottas being out of the championship picture.

He was generally behind Hamilton for most of the races and finished a whopping 161 points behind the Brit in the driver's championship.

Bottas has himself recognised this was his worst season in the pinnacle of motorsport, and he'll have to have a good 2019 if he's to remain at Mercedes, especially with Esteban Ocon waiting in the wings.