INTERVIEW: Bottas on rivalry with Kimi Raikkonen

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  • Bottas aboard his car.

    When you think of Valtteri Bottas, the words cool, calm, and collected spring to mind. 
    Not as icy or stone-faced as his fellow Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen, but hardly expressive nonetheless.

    So when a livid Bottas stormed away from his car in Sochi last month, throwing a piece of his vehicle in frustration, after Raikkonen smashed his Ferrari into him on the final lap, denying the Williams driver a podium finish at the Russian Grand Prix, it was definitely an unfamiliar sight. 
    Three weeks later, the two Scandinavians collided again, this time in Mexico, but it was Raikkonen who came out worse off, his race coming to an end while Bottas scored his second podium of the season.

    Bottas and Raikkonen came to blows in Sochi last month.

    In Abu Dhabi today, the two Finns will be battling each other to secure fourth in the championship with Bottas currently ahead of Raikkonen by a solitary point.
    With the top three positions in the standings already locked down – by Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel – F1 fans are craving any element of excitement that could spice up tonight’s race and a Finnish duel could perhaps be the answer to their prayers. But Bottas has played down any thoughts of a feud with his compatriot and insists his priority is just to finish as high as possible in the championship rather than try and beat Raikkonen. 
    “In Russia, when I lost third place, I was angry after that. But normally I’m not an angry person,” Bottas told Sport360° at an event with Williams sponsors, Oris, at the Yas Viceroy hotel.
    “We (Kimi and I) haven’t spoken about it and I don’t think there’s any need to. I think we both understand that it’s racing and sometimes you hit each other. 
    “It was just unlucky that it was us two, two times in a row.”  Barely anyone in the paddock can claim that they know Raikkonen well, as the ‘Iceman’ typically sticks to himself, and Bottas is no exception. 
    “Of course I’ve spoken with him but I can’t say that I know him that well,” says Bottas.


    On his main objective at Yas Marina Circuit today, he added: “I think the main thing would be for us as a team to be at least ahead of one quicker car in the championship, with me that would be nice. For me, it doesn’t change at all if it’s Kimi or someone else who I’m fighting for in positions.”
    Abu Dhabi has been a good place for Bottas over the years. It is where he had his first F1 test back in 2011, and where he stood on the podium in last year’s season-closer, thanks to a third-place finish.
    “I’ve come a long way since then,” Bottas says thinking back to that F1 test four years ago. “I’ve improved a lot. I just remember the things I was trying to learn, getting used to the car and the track and working with such a big team, a Formula One team. 
    “If I did that test again I’m sure I would do so much better. It’s funny. I think there is no limit to how much you can improve as long as you are willing to.”
    Bottas had a breakthrough year in 2014, making six podiums and finishing fourth in the championship. It took Williams a full decade to become a top-three team again and heading into this season, Bottas was expected to fight for wins. 

    Instead, the 26-year-old finds himself holding an unwanted record. He is the driver with most career points won in F1 without a single race victory to his name.

    “Of course first is the place everyone is racing for. But for me you can only make do with the things you have. I don’t have a winning car at the moment and my job is to get the absolute best out of that package,” he admits.
    “It was not my season. I think there were a lot of things that happened against me this year, very unlucky things. But this is racing and it’s not always your turn to shine. I’m sure the luck will turn. 
    “What we have struggled with as a team is to keep up with the development from last year to this year, especially with Ferrari, it’s been tricky. It’s something we need to do better in the winter.”

    Last year, Williams were third in the constructors’ championship behind Mercedes and Red Bull; this year they’re in the same position but behind Mercedes and Ferrari. 
    Does Bottas feel the gap is smaller to the top compared to last season though?
    “For sure we’re not any closer,” he confesses. “It’s still a great result that I’m proud of, that we can challenge these big teams. But it’s clear that everyone at Williams, including me, we want to challenge for the wins. 
    “This winter, it’s completely up to us if we can make a car that is quick enough and we can fix some issues we’ve had in the team, like pit stops for example. We need to make things better and we’re working flat out for that, to have a better season next year
    “It’s not a good thing that it happened (not closing the gap), but there’s a reason. Obviously, we’re focused much more on next year’s car earlier than we originally planned because we saw we couldn’t challenge Mercedes this year. We haven’t had that many upgrades lately and that explains why the gap has been maybe a bit bigger.”
    Wrapping up his third full season in F1, Bottas says he finds the racing exciting despite Mercedes’ dominance, although he concedes that “it’s a little bit worrying with all the financial problems some teams are in, which isn’t ideal.”
    Safety remains a major concern in motorsport with Jules Bianchi’s accident at the end of last year, which led to his passing four months ago, the latest tragedy to rock Formula One.

    Bottas says it’s important to feel invincible while racing to avoid thinking of what could happen but with closed cockpits increasingly becoming a point of debate, the Finn thinks it should be the way to go.

    “I don’t think a simple windshield or something would change the sport. If anything it would make it safer. I wouldn’t mind. I’m quite keen to back things that would improve safety. At the moment there’s a lot of research going into it so we’ll see. But I’ll be for it, why not?” he says.

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