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The Deja vu moment that reveals Bottas' true Hamilton deficit

Valtteri Bottas made a winning start to the 2020 Formula 1 season, but he now trails Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton by five points in the standings. This follows a race in Hungary that again exposed a troubling blow to Bottas's title hopes

Valtteri Bottas departed the Hungaroring having conceded the lead of the Formula 1 world championship to Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton. Seeing a 13-point advantage turn into a five-point deficit in the space of two races does not inspire confidence that this, finally, could be the season Bottas finally comes good and topples Hamilton from atop his perch.

But Bottas himself remains resolutely determined, and upbeat - in the manner you might expect of an elite athlete who must maintain self-belief even in the face of that self-confidence being regularly and exactingly tested by the feats of wonder performed by someone else with exactly the same machinery at their disposal.

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