Formula 1 Director of Motorsports Ross Brawn has praised Mercedes in the wake of its fifth straight double title, believing the “out of sorts” Valtteri Bottas to be the “only slight flaw”.
Brawn guided Mercedes through the first years of its comeback into the sport before stepping down shortly before it emerged as a dominant force in the early phase of the hybrid era.
Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton beat Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel to the respective titles, pulling clear in both championships after the summer break.
“When you win so much and for so long, it is very easy to fall into the trap of complacency,” said Brawn.
“It’s almost inevitable but can be avoided by consistently raising the bar.
“Only Ferrari in the Schumacher era has won more than five titles in a row and I had the honour of being technical director of the team when they managed six.
“I recall that every year we were aware that for the following season, we would be starting again from zero, aware that just because we had been strong before, it didn’t automatically translate into an advantage of fractions of a second, because in Formula 1, you can never stop.
“That’s what the team run by Toto Wolff was able to do – avoid panic when it realised that it was not enough to be perfect to beat Ferrari but that more effort would be required than had initially been envisaged.”
While Hamilton took 11 victories en route to his fifth world title, team-mate Bottas endured a win-less campaign, failing to reach top spot despite seven runner-up places.
Bottas came close in China and Azerbaijan, where he was denied by a puncture, and in Russia was instructed to allow Hamilton through for the win.
“The only slight flaw, if there can be one in a season like this, was the performance of Valtteri Bottas, who had a difficult season, plagued by bad luck,” said Brawn.
“Valtteri had some opportunities to win, but either through misfortune, as in Baku, or due to the occasional, understandable, decision by the team to maximise the result for the benefit of both championships he didn’t manage it.
“The result [is] that he seemed rather out of sorts by the end of the campaign.”
