Bottas: My performances will decide Mercedes future

Valtteri Bottas says remaining at Mercedes for 2020 is ‘going to completely up to me’ as he focuses on maintaining his upward trends in performances for the end of the season to help the German manufacturer seals both Formula 1 world titles.

The Finnish driver accepts he’ll continue to play a supporting roleto Lewis Hamilton for this season until the British driver seals a historic fifth F1 world title before being allowed a race equally against his teammate.

Looking to focus on his own performances, Bottas is eager to continue his momentum following back-to-back podiums for the first time since the start of the season with consecutive rostrums in Bahrain and China.

While Bottas is aiming for a final flourish to 2018 to take confidence into next season, he accepts every performance will count towards his long-term future at Mercedes with his position under pressure.

Current Force India driver and Mercedes junior Esteban Ocon could miss out on a 2019 F1 drive if he is replaced by Lance Stroll, while the French driver already being tipped as a strong candidate to join Hamilton at the works team in 2020.

“I think it’s going to be completely up to me,” Bottas said. “I think that’s going to be the fact. If I perform the way I am personally expecting and the team is expecting then everything is good.

“If I don’t perform for some reason then that’s going to be my fault then I could be under pressure but if things go the way I want, the way I plan, there’s no worries.”

Bottas is keen to see Hamilton wrap up the 2018 F1 title this weekend to regain Mercedes parity and be able to fairly fight for wins before the end of the season. The Finn was denied a maiden victory of the year in Russia when he was ordered to let Hamilton overtake while leading.

“I’m still trying to do the best job I can, if the title is secured or not. I try to do my best,” he said. “The only thing I want to do is to win races and it would be more likely to be able to do that with the title set. That’s it.

“He’s fighting for the title, and I’m not, so I hope my teammate wins the title and [I wish] all the best for him.”

Bottas signed a new Mercedes F1 deal earlier this season with the option for 2020 with the choice held by the German manufacturer.

Mercedes is searching for a way to keep Ocon on the F1 grid for next season and the French driver is currently reported to be close to a customer squad Williams move alongside fellow Mercedes junior George Russell who secured his F1 seat for 2019 last week.