Montoya: Bottas is a “more complete” driver than Rosberg

Juan Pablo Montoya has said that Valtteri Bottas is a “more complete” racing driver than 2016 World Champion Nico Rosberg.

The 29-year-old Bottas has endured an impressive start to the F1 season. He has won two races so far which came in Australia and in Azerbaijan and finished runner-up in the races taking place in Bahrain, China and Spain.

Bottas on the charge

Bottas is currently second on the driver standings and trails reigning World Champion Lewis Hamilton by several points. Hamilton could face a tough test this season to retain his World Championship. It could be the most intense Championship test which the Brit will face since Rosberg shockingly announced his retirement at the end of the 2016 season after winning the World Championship.

“Valtteri Bottas is a more complete driver than Nico Rosberg,” the Colombian is quoted by AS newspaper.

“Last year was very hard for him, but he has been able to recover and what he is doing now is very good.”

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“You see Lewis start to make mistakes in practice that he usually doesn’t make,” added Montoya. “When you start to make mistakes to go fast, it means you’re finding it more difficult.”

Montoya feels that Bottas and Rosberg are similar in that both men can challenge Hamilton for the title.

A long way to go

There are still a lot of races between now and the end of the season and a lot of events will happen between now and then. Should Hamilton win this season, he will land his sixth World Championship. This will mean that he will be just one short of the seven titles won by the legendary Michael Schumacher. To date, no driver has won more World Championships than Schumacher. With 77 race victories under his belt, Hamilton is also closing in on the 91 victories of Schumacher and at 34-years-old, he has plenty of time to get there.

Featured Image Credit: “Mercedes W10 / Valtteri Bottas / FIN / M” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Renzopaso