"I thought it was cruel to me" - Lewis Hamilton's former teammate Valtteri Bottas opens up on almost retiring from F1

Former Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas recently shared his thoughts of retiring from F1 back in 2018. Bottas revealed that he was going through a rough patch at the end of 2018 which took a toll on him and made him consider retirement.

Bottas joined Mercedes in 2017 from Williams following Nico Rosberg's retirement at the end of 2016. It was clear from the very beginning that Toto Wolff and the company did not want another Hamilton versus Rosberg intra-team rivalry within Mercedes.

Eventually, that de-prioritized the Finnish driver's position to an extent, as Hamilton began to enjoy the #1 driver status in the team. Bottas performed well on track in 2017, finishing third in the drivers' championship, behind Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel.

However, the 2018 season turned out to be a difficult one for Bottas. The Finnish driver failed to pick up a win, whereas his teammate Hamilton clinched nine victories. He finished the season fifth in the drivers' championship, behind Hamilton, the Ferrari duo of Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, and Max Verstappen. Speaking in a recent episode of "Pitlane Life Lessons" podcast, the 34-year-old said,

"There's been many lessons in the sport. I've gone to a phase where I almost nearly quit my career because I was fed up with the F1 world, and I thought it was cruel to me," Bottas said.

"Ah well, that was the end of 2018. [However] somehow I managed to pick myself up and win the first race of 2019. So that was the turning point for me. I think in the end, I understood myself and that sometimes you need time, sometimes you need to step back, really look at the big picture."

In the 2019 Australian Grand Prix, Bottas had a statement win, finishing ahead of Hamilton and Verstappen. Bottas went on to claim three more victories that season and cemented his second-place position in the drivers' championship.

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"As a racing driver, to admit that to yourself is hard": Valtteri Bottas on playing second fiddle to Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton, and Valtteri Bottas at Yas Marina Circuit on December 12, 2021 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Cristiano Barni ATPImages/Getty Images)

Although Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas both drove Mercedes cars from 2017 to 2021, chatter from the paddock spoke of the seven-time world champion enjoying a significant advantage over his Finnish teammate, in terms of machinery.

Bottas, in an interview with "Autosport" in 2023, said that it wasn't until 2021, his last season as a Mercedes driver, that he admitted to Hamilton being better than him in some aspects despite the duo being in equal machinery. He said (via "PlanetF1"):

"With Lewis, only in the last year could I accept to myself that in equal machinery over a period of a full season, I really struggled to beat him and that he’s probably better in certain areas. As a racing driver, to admit that to yourself is hard," Bottas said.

Mercedes replaced Bottas after they brought in another Williams driver, George Russell, in 2022.