Formula 1: Valtteri Bottas is having the start to 2019 he needed

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport’s Valtteri Bottas has been having that start that he needed to have to the 2019 Formula 1 season.

Coming into the 2019 Formula 1 season, it was no secret that Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport’s Valtteri Bottas was on the hot seat. Mercedes reserve driver Esteban Ocon had already been rumored as a potential replacement for the 29-year-old Finn for the 2020 season or perhaps even before the 2019 season ends.

As a result, Bottas needed to get off to a strong start to the 2019 season, primarily to avoid being in a position where he fell far enough behind five-time Formula 1 champion teammate Lewis Hamilton to cause the Brackley-based team to use team orders to assist the 34-year-old Briton down the stretch like they did on multiple occasions in the second half of last season.

While the 2019 season is still in its opening stages, Bottas has been the only driver to lead the driver standings at any point through the season’s first two races. He had never previously sat atop the standings before this season.

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Bottas opened up the season with a dominant victory in the Australian Grand Prix with Hamilton finishing behind him in second place before he went on to finish in second behind Hamilton in the season’s second race, the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Bottas currently holds a one-point lead (44 to 43) over Hamilton in the driver standings. They are not tied with one another despite the fact that they have recorded the same results so far this season due to the fact that Bottas recorded the fastest lap time of the Australian Grand Prix and earned one bonus point because of it.

The next two races on this year’s schedule are two races in which Bottas outclassed Hamilton in the 2018 season. He finished in second place in the Chinese Grand Prix at Shanghai International Circuit while Hamilton finished in fourth, and he was on pace to win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with Hamilton in second before a tire puncture forced him to retire from competition, handing Hamilton the victory.

In fact, had Bottas not experienced this tire puncture with under three laps remaining in the 2018 season’s fourth race, he would have taken the lead of the driver standings for the first time in his Formula 1 career after this race.

Bottas would have had 65 points while Scuderia Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who finished the race in fourth place, would have finished in fifth and sat in second place in the standings with 64 points. Meanwhile, Hamilton would have finished the race in second and sat in third in the standings with 63 points.

Instead, Hamilton won the race and walked away as the leader of the driver standings with 70 points. Meanwhile, Vettel walked away with 66 points and Bottas walked away with just 40, meaning he was already more than one full race victory behind Hamilton in the standings just four races into the season.

Bottas has already scored more points through this season’s first two races than he did through the 2018 season’s first four races, and with the upcoming schedule being what it is, look for him continue to capitalize on the great opportunity that he has to prove that he is a legitimate championship contender who should not simply be utilized by the Silver Arrows as a wingman for Hamilton.

Whether or not Valtteri Bottas can continue doing what he needs to do to prove that he has earned the right to drive for Mercedes beyond the conclusion of the 2019 Formula 1 season remains to be seen, but he is clearly on the right track to achieving this goal to open up the year.