By his own admission, the 2018 season was the worst of Valtteri Bottas' career. Driving an identical car to the one that secured the drivers' championship and 11 race wins with Lewis Hamilton at the wheel, he failed to score a single victory. But, for next year at least, Mercedes is standing by him.
Bottas' arrival at Mercedes at the start of 2017 came under unusual circumstances. He replaced the outgoing world champion Nico Rosberg, who made a shock decision to retire at the end of 2016, giving the Finn limited time to acclimatise to life at a top-level team.