Valtteri Bottas has revealed that constant rumours linking him to a drive at Ferrari distracted him last season.
The highly-rated Williams driver was tipped to replace the ageing Kimi Raikkonen for 2016, but Ferrari opted to retain Raikkonen for one more year.
Bottas went on to finish fifth in the drivers’ standings after an impressive finish to the season, when the rumours disappeared.
“It was the most disturbing time of my career so far," he told Autosport.
"I could really feel what media can do, they keep asking the same questions every race.
"Even on the street, normal people ask you about the same thing all the time, it's like 24/7 the same thing.
"It's not ideal, because when you go to a race weekend, the only thing you want to have in your mind is how do you get the perfect result.
"When there are rumours like this, it makes it more difficult. It didn't help, but that is F1.
"I think it all went well, for sure it didn't help with the results and concentration at all but I don't think it hurt that much."
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Valtteri Bottas has revealed that constant rumours linking him to a drive at Ferrari distracted him last season.
The highly-rated Williams driver was tipped to replace the ageing Kimi Raikkonen for 2016, but Ferrari opted to retain Raikkonen for one more year.
Bottas went on to finish fifth in the drivers’ standings after an impressive finish to the season, when the rumours disappeared.
“It was the most disturbing time of my career so far," he told Autosport.
"I could really feel what media can do, they keep asking the same questions every race.
"Even on the street, normal people ask you about the same thing all the time, it's like 24/7 the same thing.
"It's not ideal, because when you go to a race weekend, the only thing you want to have in your mind is how do you get the perfect result.
"When there are rumours like this, it makes it more difficult. It didn't help, but that is F1.
"I think it all went well, for sure it didn't help with the results and concentration at all but I don't think it hurt that much."
Related topics