Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas has admitted that he needs a miracle to recover any Formula 1 title hopes in 2020 following his retirement at the Eifel Grand Prix.
Bottas dropped out of the race with a Power Unit issue shortly after he relinquished the lead to team-mate Lewis Hamilton following a mistake at Turn 1.
With Hamilton going on to win the grand prix ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, Bottas now sits 69 points behind in the Championship with just six races left to go.
“It’s disappointing, of course, just very, very disappointing but it’s one of these things you cannot do anything about it,” Bottas said.
“Obviously, I also had the lock up before that but, still, I still had all the chances to win, because that made me go into a two-stopped quite early and I think two-stops, in the end, was the best strategy.
“I knew there was still all to play for even after that lock up on the drizzle, but then came the engine thing and I couldn’t believe it.
“I understand the gap to Lewis is now pretty big in the points, so I would definitively need a miracle, but, as always, there’s no point in giving up, I have to keep the bar high for me and keep trying. It’s just disappointing – that’s the best word.”
Despite the chasm he faces to Hamilton in the standings Bottas emphasised that he will not be altering his approach.
“I think that’s the best mindset, there’s no point now to, like, non-stop calculating the points for Lewis because it’s quite a big gap,” he said.
“I just have to set the target for each weekend and then do everything I can for that. The mindset for me is to never give up is still with me so, you know, no chance to get out of it.
“Obviously, in a couple of months we’ll be a lot wiser about how the season will pan out.”
