Mercedes Formula 1 driver Valtteri Bottas says he puജrposely avoided social media and looking at news stories in the media following what he described as a “tough” Sakhir Grand Prix.

Bottas lost the lead to stand-in teammate George Russell at the start of last weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix and was running in second place when a pitstop tyre m🌸ix-up from Merceಌdes ruined both drivers’ races.

The Finn ended up being sent back out on his original set of old Hard ty🀅res in fifth place, while Russell had to return🅷 to the pits for a second time after having some of Bottas’ tyres fitted to his car.

Bottas struggled with tyre degradation and ultimately slumped to eighth, one place ahead of the recovering Russell who looked set to challenge for victory until a la🔯te puncture ended his hopes of a fairytale maiden win.

"Obviously on Sunday I got to deal with all the media and when the driver has a bad race you have to deal with it and I🧸 did,” Bottas said.

“I’ve learned fr🧸om the past that sometimes the best thing to do is to block everything, not to look at anything. So, after Sunday I haven’t looked at any single headline, any single news article or social media, so that’s the way sometimes you have t🦄o do and it works for me.

“I feel, again, full of energy for the new weekend, I feel that I’m in a place that I can perform and that’s the main thing. Every driver has his own way to re-set and get bacꦍk up when you have a bad moment.”

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Gran𝓡d Prix, Bottas admitted that he has not been performing at his best since his title loss to Lewis Hamilton was confirmed at the Turkish Grand Prix.

“All I can say is that since Imola it has been a run of really bad luck and I can’t even remember the last time I was in the podium,” Bottas explained. “I feel that I’ve not really been performing in the last few races,ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ but of course I still try, I try to extract everything I can.

“There are many factors in this sport, sometimes it’s luck, sometimes it’s what you do y🔯ourself in and outside the car.  All I can say is that I can do much better than if you look at the last four races, on average. I feel that I need to do better

“In this kind of moments, when you feel that you don’t perform at 100 per cen♕t for many different races, for di🐬fferent reasons, for sure there’s a lot to learn about,” he added.

“It’s no secret that battling with Lewis for years and years, I know how much it takes out of me, every single weekend trying to get 100 per cent out of me🌟 and keep pushing.

“Sometimes I get close, sometimes I managed to beat him. Having fought four years in a row, a defeat for the championship꧅ title is tough to accept. For sure it has an effect and when you know that the title is lost, it’s not quite the s𝕴ame, even though you should always give 100 per cent and that’s what I try.

“We all know how mentally sensitive this sport is, so I think there’s lots to learn💟 from this year, again, an🌠d hopefully I can use it for the future.”

Bottas sits just 16 points clea🏅r of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in the battle to seal second place in the championship and requires a top-five fi🔯nish in Abu Dhabi to beat the Dutchman to the position.

“It would better than third,” he said. “Being in this te𓆉am, as a Mercedes driver, the team deserves to be one-two, with the car that we have this year so, of course, that is the target.”