Hamilton: Valtteri doesn’t get the credit he’s due

One of the most criticised drivers on the Formula 1 grid, Bottas is currently trailing Hamilton by 85 points in the 2020 driver's championship with four races remaining, meaning it is almost certain he will fail in his attempt to beat the Briton for a fourth consecutive year.

However according to Hamilton, such a statistic should not diminish the Finn's qualities as a driver.

“Valtteri doesn’t get the credit he’s due, because he does an amazing job,” Hamilton explained to Dutch broadcaster Ziggo Sport. “He’s an incredibly fast driver.

“I think he’s better than a large portion of the field that are here, not only in his driving, but more in his mental attitude and approach.

"Because being a driver is not just about driving, it’s not just about practice. It’s about how you compose, how you bring and elevate people around you and he’s great at that.”

Particularly in terms of pure pace on Saturdays, Hamilton stresses the thin margins are indicative of how well Bottas is doing, even if ultimately the edge is in his own favour.

“When I look back on those times they were too close,” he said of their qualifying battles. “They weren’t good enough because I believe that I have a certain amount of extra time in me.

“But it’s honestly just never giving up, never believing it’s over. It’s down to feel, pushing to the limit and trying to put all the pieces to the puzzle together in a rush.

“When you go into practice, you’ve basically got a new puzzle and the pieces are all over the place and you only have a select amount of time to put all the pieces of the puzzle into place.

“When you get to qualifying, sometimes you have half the puzzle done, sometimes you have the whole thing done, sometimes you have less. And then you just have to throw it all together and hope it comes together. And I’m okay at both.”