The dark horse that should be taking F1 2018 by storm

If things had gone just a little bit differently in the three most recent Formula 1 races, Valtteri Bottas might have scored a memorable hat-trick. The Finn needed to up his game after 2017 to earn a fresh contract at Mercedes, and his form so for this campaign suggests that's exactly what he's done

Author Jonathan Noble

Published May 4, 2018, 11:33 AM

Heartbroken. Painful. Hurt. Terrible.

These were the words that Valtteri Bottas used to describe how he felt after losing victory in Baku with a late puncture. He was right to cheekily suggest that the only real cure to get over the disappointment was to go out and drink 10 pints of beer.

But however hazy his head might have been on Monday morning, Bottas would be well advised to take a step back from the immediate gut-wrenching torment of the blowout, and instead reflect on a campaign that has been much better than his results show.

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Author Jonathan Noble

Jonathan Noble is Motorsport.com’s Formula 1 editor. Having graduated from University of Sussex Jonathan worked for sports news agency Collings Sports reporting on F1, F3, touring cars and other sports, with articles appearing in The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, Reuters, Autosport and other publications. In 1999 he moved to Haymarket Publishing to become a senior editor at Autosport Special Projects, and one year later he became Autosport’s grand prix editor. In 2015 he moved to Motorsport Network, becoming the F1 editor for Motorsport.com. He is also a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers, and sits on the FIA Media Council.