TheGiantHogweed wrote:
I do realise that it seems that most don't find Bottas very exciting at all. I can't say I do. But I really respect his personality. He seems like exactly the same person in and out the car. Never sounds out of control with anger. He shows a bit of frustration, but keeps calm. I also respect that when he's made a mistake, he knows it at the time and admits he could have done better. He's sometimes possibly a bit hard on himself perhaps. But when he realised he wasn't doing great towards the end of last year, he seems to have turned around since then. Admittedly, he tried too hard in Australia, but that was possibly an example of the speed he now has this year. He pushed it too far then but seems to be pushing to the limit more and being a lot more aggressive now.
To me, it seems that if Bottas has had a very strong race, but the end result ends up not being that good (happened a lot this year), he tends to not get the recognition he deserves and often doesn't get that many votes. I'm almost wondering if it is because some can't sympathise with him as much as other drivers. Whenever Hamilton suffers bad luck but still has a good drive but not the best result, he seems to get loads of votes in comparison. The best example of this this year I think was China. I feel Bottas was the driver of the day there. But due to certain circumstances, Ricciardo got the lucky chance to go for it and take the win. He got significantly more votes than Bottas despite having very uneventful majority of the race. I just get the feeling that if Hamilton (who does have many more fans than Bottas) did the exact same as Bottas that day, I think people will have felt for him more and he could have been much closer or even ahead of Ricciardo with the votes.
I do get feelings for Bottas, and have been feeling sorry for him a lot of this year. He hasn't had any good luck yet. If he has luck, it is always bad. The list of things not going his way is very long now. Losing out on a likely win in China due to a safety car and getting 2nd. Losing out out on a win in Baku due to a puncture and then retiring. If he had won, that will have been some good luck, as 2nd or possibly 3rd will have been more likely. Getting knocked to the back by Vettel in France. Then following that, had a damaged car and even his pit stop later on in the race was effectively as long as Vettel's with his penalty. This likely cost Bottas from finishing 6th ahead of Magnussen. Retiring in Australia missing out a likely 2nd place. Then this latest race, he likely will have been 2nd or at worst 3rd without taking the risk of not pitting. Given what Bottas did, I'm surprised about there being so few that respected his drive. His start was very good compared to his team mates and his 2nd stint looked strong and was catching Vettel. Then the pressure he was under was huge and he did some really good defending. Not sure why people suggested he should have done this for longer. It was likely doing this that ruined his tyres. Remember how close Ricciardo was near the end when Bottas's tyres were done? If he had worked hard on defending for another lap, 5th will have been a likely end to the race. I myself was indeed feeling a bit emotional for Bottas after that race.
One other member of this forum who I think has noticed Bottas's good performances more than many is Zoue. Who I remember saying he/she wasn't a big fan of Bottas, but thought he did really well. This was on the Chinese DOTD page I think and that day, I get the feeling that another driver doing the same job as Bottas that people are more emotional about will have had more votes.
In terms of drivers I struggle to feel emotional about are possible Verstappen and maybe Alonso. I just don't seem to like Verstappen's attitude while he is racing. And that puts me off liking him and feeling that sympathetic when things go wrong for him. I kept quiet about this before the start of the season because i though I would have a load be against me for saying it. But I myself thought that if Verstappen drove similar to last year, his luck of avoiding bad outcomes in incidents would go at some point. Given the amount of times his starts last year included contact and avoided punctures, i thought that if he continues like that (thought it was likely) I could see him having a load of issues. Canada and Mexico were examples last year. Both times contacting someone’s front wing with one of his rear tyres. Very lucky indeed both times to avoid a puncture. He's continued to take unnecessary risks this year and the bad results of doing so have happened far more often. Driving like he does will mean that some of the time, he can have truly outstanding races as he takes all the chances possible. But if he does this all the time, he's going to keep having incidents. And I just can't feel sorry for him. I also don't like the way he talks to the media usually. But when he's not directly talking to the media but just happens to be pickes up by the microphones, he comes across as quite nice. Shows his respect for other drivers in the pre podium room. Remember him saying it was unfortunate for Bottas to get hit out in france when he saw the replay. But he will need to change his attitude and overly aggressive driving style for me to get to like him more.
The problem I have with Alonso is similar. His attitude over the past few years has been terrible IMO. While driving he sounds like he has so little respect for the team. The recent radio broadcasts haven't been helping with the way they are edited so i shouldn't take them so seriously. But some of the things he said last year and before were very unreasonable. He often sounds like he would rather not be there. I respect he's one of the best drivers on the grid, but given how unhappy he sounds, I often think he should give his seat to someone else. In terms of his driving, I see little wrong with it.
You said something interesting there how, say if Bottas had the drive/incidents Hamilton had on Sunday it would be more "we'll he is in a frontrunning car" as opposed to any credit given to his driving skill, less great drive to the podium.. More I should bloody hope he got a podium with that merc package
I do notice this happens in general, Hamilton and Alonso are good examples the way some go on about their performances you'd tbi k they were driving an old Minard with a life w16 in the back and still beat everyone else, whereas others, vettel being a prime example, it's always the car, I think bott as is destined to be thought of as someone who only can do well in a good car