Jul 05, 2020: Crash.net's Lewis Larkam analyses how Valtteri Bottas managed to turn the tables on F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton, while Ferrari

Bottas saw off his Mercedes team-mate at Spa-Francorchamps by just … Read more on Planet F1 More news Mercedes … A day after it was announced that he will continue to race with Mercedes next year, Valtteri Bottas spoke to the assembled media in Singapore on Thursday about his one-year extension … Report: Ferrari buys out Valtteri Bottas' contract with Williams Formula One team. Mercedes: Lewis Hamilton & Valtteri Bottas. Autoweek may earn money from the links on this page. Valtteri Bottas edged out Lewis Hamilton to top the time charts in opening practice for Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix. Hamilton takes masterful fourth win at Spa from Bottas as Ferrari finish out of the pointsWATCH: The F1 drivers observe a minute’s silence at Spa in memory of Anthoine HubertWATCH: Giovinazzi and Russell walk away after huge shunt in Belgian GPSainz's Belgian GP over before it starts after exhaust failure on lap to gridROAD TO F1: Sargeant retakes F3 championship lead in style at SpaWATCH: Take a closer look at how the teams are dealing with the drag conundrum at SpaLeclerc says P13 ‘better than expected’ after double Q2 drop-out for FerrariVerstappen eyeing ‘a lot of opportunities’ in Sunday’s Belgian GP from P3 on the gridANALYSIS: How and why are Ferrari so far off the pace in Belgium?HIGHLIGHTS: Watch all the action from Belgian GP qualifying as Hamilton takes pole at Spa© 2003-2020 Formula One World Championship Limited Bottas is a highly rated driver and has scored nine career podiums, but is yet to win. Lewis Hamilton is yet to agree terms on an extension of his contract at Mercedes, which ends at the end of this season, though it seems highly unlikely that the 6 … Valtteri Bottas said he isn’t “too bothered” to have missed out on pole to team-mate Lewis Hamilton in Belgium.Valtteri Bottas was quickest in FP1 for the Belgian GP but, perhaps more importantly, Max Verstappen in third was just 0.081s down.Mercedes hasn’t made any changes to the drivers’ race suits despite Valtteri Bottas suffering in the heat at the Spanish Grand Prix.Valtteri Bottas has been advised once again to play more “mind games” with Lewis Hamilton if he is to battle him for the World Championship.Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton are supporting Mercedes boss Toto Wolff as he weighs up his future, but insist Mercedes is about more than Wolff alone.Mercedes’ chief strategist James Vowles says that, in hindsight, the team made the “wrong” call on Valtteri Bottas’ strategy in Spain.Christian Horner believes Valtteri Bottas and Alex Albon have “two of the hardest seats in F1” because of who their team-mates are.Mercedes technical director James Allison defended Valtteri Bottas after his poor performance at the Spanish Grand Prix.Losing any chance of fighting for the Spanish GP win at Turn 1, Nico Rosberg says Valtteri Bottas is “lacking” in aggression and it once again cost him.Valtteri Bottas lost 3kg during the the Spanish Grand Prix and thinks Mercedes’ black overalls were behind it.A deflated Valtteri Bottas admitted that his chances of winning the 2020 Drivers’ Championship are now “drifting away”.Valtteri Bottas has to “get inside” Lewis Hamilton’s head if he wants to beat him as Nico Rosberg reckons that’s the Brit’s weakness.Valtteri Bottas admitted it was “annoying” to be pipped to pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix – and believes his best chance of winning will be off the start line.Mercedes bagged the practice hat-trick for the Spanish GP, doing it with yet another 1-2 as tyre wear and seeing how far the drivers could push dominated the programme.2016 World Champion, Nico Rosberg, has warned against ruling Valtteri Bottas out of the 2020 title battle.Toto Wolff has denied Valtteri Bottas’ claim that Mercedes botched his strategy at the 70th Anniversary GP, saying he’s “not sure” what the team could have done better.Valtteri Bottas has said Mercedes were caught “sleeping” by Red Bull as the team’s winning streak ended at the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has denied the suggestion that another one-year deal for Valtteri Bottas shows a “lack of trust”.Valtteri Bottas is back on pole, this time for the 70th Anniversary GP, while Red Bull gambled in qualy with Max Verstappen starting on hard tyres.Valtteri Bottas celebrated his new Mercedes contract by securing pole position for the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix – and it clearly meant a huge amount.Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas seemed to deliberately go a bit slower in sector one in FP3 to save their reds, and go quickest.Lewis Hamilton is firmly on course for the “incredible accomplishment” of Silverstone victories on back-to-back weekends after topping the FP2 timesheets for the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.Unlike last year when contract talks threw him off his game, Valtteri Bottas says this year’s didn’t “hurt” his performance in any way.Mercedes have confirmed Valtteri Bottas is staying with the team for next season “at least” after signing a new contract.After being hit by a late puncture at the British Grand Prix, Valtteri Bottas says Lewis Hamilton was lucky to avoid the same fate.Valtteri Bottas has been criticised for letting Lewis Hamilton off the hook for his poor start to the British Grand Prix.Valtteri Bottas is ready to turn his attention to next weekend after what he described as a “very unlucky” first race at Silverstone.Lewis Hamilton bagged his seventh Silverstone pole position as the W11s once again destroyed the field, clinching Mercedes’ third front row lock out of 2020.Valtteri Bottas is still hopeful he can beat Lewis Hamilton at the British Grand Prix despite missing out on pole position to his team-mate.Mercedes are counting on cooler conditions enabling them to wrest back the advantage when it matters at the British Grand Prix.

Just who can stop Lewis Hamilton?That is the question everyone outside the Mercedes garage is trying to figure out as the six-time champion again starts a race on pole for Sunday's Belgian …