The image of a forlorn Valtteri Bottas after retiring from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix will be a stand-out in 2018 as one of the most significant moments in Formula One this year.
In the same way the carcass of his right-rear Pirelli ultrasoft tyre was torn, so too had certain victory been ripped away from the Finn, as indeed has been the prospect of leading the championship for the first time in his career.
It was a more gut-wrenching outcome than the self-destruction of the two Red Bull Racing driver considering the external pressure mounting on Bottas coming into the 2018 season with his future at Mercedes on the line.
First employed by the reigning world champions in 2017 as the replacement for outgoing 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg after his shock retirement, many believe that the 28-year-old’s time at the Silver Arrows has been limited since his arrival.
A winner of three grands prix in 2017, Bottas proved to be a force of consistency despite not sustaining a bid for the world championship, and he significantly contributed to Brackley’s fourth consecutive constructors title.
The Finn boasts a solid defence, which took him to his first two wins in Russia and Austria, where he withstood the forcefulness of Sebastian Vettel, denying the German a chance to get past.
(AMG Petronas Motorsport).
Bottas’s attack, though, has been the subject of mass criticism, with the verdict being that he lacks the killer instinct to make moves in the same vein as Daniel Ricciardo and Fernando Alonso.
This was brought to the fore at the Bahrain Grand Prix, where the scenarios of Russia and Austria were reversed and Vettel was leading away, not to mention the crash during qualifying at the curtain-raising Australian Grand Prix, which brought on board more sceptics.
Regardless of that, it doesn’t change the fact that the past two races have seen victory taken from Bottas through no fault of his own. Having strategically outfoxed Ferrari in China for the lead, it wasn’t until a surprise safety car appearance that Red Bull Racing and Daniel Ricciardo got the upper hand on the fresher tyres.
Up until his retirement on lap 49 in Azerbaijan Bottas had again methodically found himself at the front, having overcut Vettel and his teammate Lewis Hamilton by quite a significant margin. The supersoft tyres on which the Finn started the race were caressed until lap 39 before he had the margin to make his pit stop and retain the lead after the Red Bulls had their blue.
In a season which has proved to be so eccentric, it is impossible to rule out Bottas being a title contender purely based on his perceived lack of intent. It’ll be a matter of who’s the last man standing, as shown in Baku, where the relatively rudderless Hamilton inherited the win.
The pain endured in Azerbaijan could be the spark that lights the fire of Bottas’s killer instincts and his title challenge in 2018, and it will perhaps solidify his status as a driver worthy of his seat in a world championship-winning outfit.