“Wing man hurts” was Valtteri Botta’s famous and heartfelt answer when he told how Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff had characterized the Finn’s performance at the 2018 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Given that the adjective describes Bottas’ role during much of his time at Mercedes, it shows how painful that five-year stint could have been.
And yet Bottas has achieved something that few have. Yes, his individual achievements – the 10 wins, 20 pole positions and two World Championship runners-up – are rare enough, but he was also part of a winning machine.
He may not have started out in karting and dreamed of taking five constructors ‘championship wins and helping Hamilton win four drivers’ titles, but he was still involved in nine total.
Only one driver has been involved in more successes in World Cup history – Rubens Barrichello.
He was involved in a total of 12 titles – six constructors ‘and six drivers’ titles – mostly alongside Michael Schumacher at Ferrari. Then in 2009 he was Button’s wingman at Brawn in a car that he once called a “white Ferrari” – even though he was a title contender himself that year.
Perhaps, to falsify and falsify the football language, these achievements should be viewed as “assists” of the championship when it comes to supporting a title-winning teammate. Seen in this way, Bottas and Barrichello may not have reached the ultimate goal, but they did collect more “assists” than anyone else. To expand the metaphor, you won’t score unless you are given the opportunity by the assist (and the rest of the team in front of it, you come to mention it).
Barrichello and Bottas have their similarities as both have proven to be drivers capable of great things, but not necessarily as consistent as the greatest. What Bottas said recently in an interview with The Race – “on my best days, whether it’s racing or qualifying, I’m unbeatable” – could also be said by Barrichello.
Next on the list is Mark Webber with a total of eight championship appearances – all together with Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull from 2010 to 2013.
Again, Webber was an incredibly fast driver at times and made some really great drives, but during that time he couldn’t do what Vettel did. Like Barichello and Bottas, Webber, although sometimes an antagonist of Vettel, also played a crucial role in his success. You can’t be and be an ordinary driver, which is why time leads to everyone becoming fairer in their judgment of these almost-but-not-quite-men.
Four drivers managed to win world championship titles, but also had appearances when they were more than a season behind a team-mate who had won the title – namely Alain Prost, Denny Hulme, Giuseppe Farina and Nico Rosberg. But because they all had their year (s) up, they cannot really be considered wingmen. Prost in particular stands out as an anomaly.
For Farina, who won the first world championship in 1950, one could argue given that he spent the next three years in the supporting role, first for Juan-Manuel Fangio (who almost took the 50s crown) and then for Alberto Ascari. But to come back to the example of Bottas: If he had won a title in his five years at Mercedes, the entire wingman identity would have been destroyed.
In the history of the World Championship, a total of 17 drivers were wingmen of a champion team-mate. If you eliminate the four champions mentioned above, there are 13 names left. That list only takes into account primary teammates who have played most of the season, for example Johnny Hebert’s 1995 season qualifies alongside Schumacher at Benetton, but not 1994, where he made two starts for the team at the end of the season.
But only Barrichello, Bottas and Webber have done this more than twice. The remaining 10 drivers are Gerhard Berger, David Coulthard, Giancarlo Fisichella, Riccardo Patrese, Peter Collins, Carlos Reutemann, Ritchie Ginther, Bruce McLaren, Luigi Villoresi and Francois Cevert.
That the list is so short and that all of these names are Grand Prix winners themselves shows how good you have to be to qualify as a wingman. In the case of Collins, he even gave up his own car to hand it over to his teammate Juan Manuel Fangio while he was still an underdog for the title!
What Bottas has done has proven good enough to move Hamilton forward in qualifying, garnered enough points to ensure that Mercedes always won the constructors’ championship during his time there, and played an active role in set-up and vehicle development. This requires extensive know-how and a high-level driver.
Maintaining this level of performance over a long period of time takes a tremendous amount of effort and determination. Although Bottas had his weaknesses, he generally found a way to recover – fueled by his determination to come to terms with Hamiton and challenge him for the championship. It may have proven pointless, but it gave him the drive he needed to maintain that level.
After last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Bottas certainly had the flair of someone who is ready for something new. “Now is the time for something new”. This wasn’t a driver idling, but one who worked hard to do what he was doing and be part of something special.
But even though he didn’t get the ultimate prize, Bottas still had another form of success and wouldn’t have lasted that long at Mercedes if he hadn’t done a good job.
That makes him – sorry, Valtteri – one of the great F1 wing drivers.
