Valtteri Bottas believes Mercedes held him back from pursuing the 2021 World Championship early in the season.

Bottas has been thrown back into ‘wingman’ position at Mercedes, behind teammate Lewis Hamilton by 80.5 points in the Drivers’ Championship with eight rounds to go, in order to support Hamilton’s title campaign and Mercedes’ bid for the Constructors’ crown.

And the Finn implied that Mercedes has been taking this approach for some time, even if the future is unclear.

“I don’t know really, I need to ask Toto [Wolff, Mercedes team principal]. For sure, it’s still a reasonable gap in the points,” he told reporters at the Russian Grand Prix when asked if he would still be allowed to challenge for the title.

“At least earlier in the season, I felt like I wasn’t allowed anymore for the contention, but you never know. We go race by race.

“I think in Formula 1 you just never know how the season will progress. There is still a fair amount of races, so never say never.

“For me personally, coming here is different, so the only thing that’s in my mind is winning. That’s the only thing that matters to me and at least that is my approach for this week.”

Bottas put in likely his best performance of the season at the previous round in Monza, his first race weekend since his departure from Mercedes after 2021 was confirmed.

He topped traditional qualifying, won Sprint Qualifying, and then battled back from last on the grid to a P3 finish in the race after an engine penalty.

Bottas responded when asked if the certainty of his future had influenced his performance:  “I think it’s easy to say it like that, but that’s how I felt at Monza. I felt almost like a weight off my shoulders and just really enjoyed it.

“So I’m sure it doesn’t do any harm. I felt good and I still feel good.”

However, before switching to Alfa Romeo for 2022, Bottas confirmed that he is still available to play in the Mercedes team when needed.

“Every race is different and there could be times we need to play as a team and I need to take one for the team,” he accepted.

Further, Bottas stated that he would yield a position to Hamilton if it helped his teammate’s and Mercedes’ cause.

“At this situation, yes, I would do it,” he confirmed.

“We are here as a team and we need to make sure we win both the titles. Not only the Constructors’ but the Drivers’.

“At the moment, Lewis has the greater chance for that, so that’s the situation.”

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