Friday, I bought two Valtteri Bottas t-shirts, one for myself and another for my girlfriend; he's our favorite Formula 1 driver. In both practices Friday in Imola, Italy, he came in first, then only managed to qualify for 8th position on Saturday...
. Granted, the margins between 1st and 8th were only a couple tenths of a second, but damn, dude. The race Sunday? He fell to 9th, then was wrecked out completely by George Russell, a driver for Williams that also serves as a reserve driver for Bottas' team (Mercedes.) Needless to say, NOT a good showing at all.
Since last year, people have been calling for Russell to replace Bottas at Mercedes, now I'm afraid it might happen for the 2022 season because the reactions in F1 front offices are 99.9% knee-jerk, and my new t-shirts will only have a single season of relevance. He needs some good-to-great showings this season to extend his contract; he can do it, he just needs to stay out of the shit and quit playing wingman to his teammate (fucking Lewis Hamilton) who's officially the winningest driver in F1 history and was recently knighted by the goddamn Queen, for fucks' sake.
Bottas isn't getting a fair shake at all. People look at Hamilton and think he's the "standard," particularly for Mercedes, so anyone who's not consistently winning or finishing high in points is "mediocre." One look at the field, and you'll see MOST of those drivers haven't performed anywhere NEAR to Hamilton's level; he is the exception by far and away; comparing Bottas to him because they have "the same car" (they don't; they're incredible complex machines and anything can go wrong in them at any moment, and Bottas has had a... suspicious amount of mechanical failures and botched pit stops the past couple of years that have led many to think there might be some preferential treatment at Mercedes) only makes Bottas look all the worse.
However it shakes out, Bottas is my guy; we'll wear our t-shirts proudly for as long as they hold up.
EDIT: It should be noted that Imola had rain the day of the race, and no one was performing up to par, i.e.: Hamilton himself lost pole almost immediately to Max Verstappen on the opening lap. He also went off track because of George Russell's unwillingness to allow Hamilton to lap him and fell to 9th immediately prior to the Bottas/Russell incident that caused a race stoppage. Three drivers didn't finish the race, and Bottas, who was driving conservatively due to the wet track, was wrecked out by Russell who tried a pass at a turn which is risky under the best conditions. If people think he's "the better driver" because he makes rash and reckless choices like that, then I've even more reasons not to be a fan of his. Hopefully Toto Wolfe (part Mercedes team owner) realizes that and sticks with the guy who's more consistent and logical; who'd want a wild card running next to the best the sport has ever seen?
I really wish you guys watched F1; I need more people to talk to about it!
