Bottas has ’no chance’ of beating Hamilton

Valtteri Bottas has "no chance" of beating his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton in 2021.

That is the view of former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher, who does think Finn Bottas has the ability to be "at eye-level" with the seven time world champion at "some races".

"But in terms of the whole season, he has no chance," Schumacher told f1-insider.com.

"He’s not consistent enough for that. He’ll make more mistakes over the course of the season - like last year when he messed up a few starts towards the end of the year.

"Nico Rosberg proved in 2016 that you can beat Lewis in the title fight, but Lewis learned from that. That’s why it will no longer happen that a supposedly weaker driver will be able to stand up to him."

Interestingly, Rosberg himself agrees with Schumacher’s assessment about Bottas.

"Yes, every year there are races that make you think ’Ok, now he can do it, now he can fight Lewis’," the German told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"But then Hamilton comes back and Bottas goes into the dark again. I would never say that Bottas is unable to fight, because he is always able to beat Hamilton on a flying lap.

"But in the long run, on continuity, he can’t do it. And then this year I think Sergio Perez will also be in the mix," Rosberg added.

The 2016 world champion therefore agrees with those who think 2021 will be a two-man fight between Hamilton and Max Verstappen.

"Max is so strong - he’s at Hamilton’s level now," said Rosberg. "And both of them are on a different level to the others.

"Still, you can bet on Hamilton again. Just putting a small amount on Verstappen as insurance is a good idea," he smiled.