Can Bottas beat Hamilton in 2020? "He knows where the problem is''

Valtteri Bottas has the greatest chance of beating Lewis Hamilton in 2019 in his hunt for the sixth world title, but despite a good start to the season, Bottas 2.0 could not bulwark it. The question now is whether this is realistic for 2020?

After a sudden departure of Nico Rosberg, Bottas came rolling in last-minute for the Formula 1 season of 2017 at Mercedes. The Finn had just finished four good seasons as Williams' driver and was the most suitable candidate. After years of tramping between Rosberg and Hamilton, there was finally peace and quiet.

It's not that Bottas doesn't want it, but in 2017 and 2018 Hamilton is clearly the number one on the team and the Finn won't be able to perform consistently enough to really claim the title in a whole year's time. In 2019 it will be no different in the end, although he does finish second in the standings. Bottas himself feels fitter than ever, but Johnny Herbert has his doubts.

"He now openly admits it: It's because of his consistency. He also got off to a good start at the beginning of last season, but during the season he runs out of energy, while Lewis continues to put the pressure on. Valtteri will have to be more constant to really put pressure on Lewis and that hasn't worked out yet," said Herbert at Sky Sports' Vodcast.

''He sounded very positive, however, and he worked very hard on his physical and mental qualities. If he can win that first race, it will really give him a lot of self-confidence and put more pressure on Lewis. However, the question is again how he does it again that week on top of the same circuit'', concludes the former Formula 1 driver.