SEPANG, Malaysia -- After finishing 40 seconds behind teammate Lewis Hamilton in Malaysia, Valtteri Bottas gave a frank assessment of his recent struggles saying he needs to turn it around quickly otherwise "it won't be good for anyone".
The Finn finished fifth in Sepang but it was the gap to Hamilton which was most concerning and one that has been growing ever since he claimed victory at July's Austrian Grand Prix. His recent race record has also been deceiving with seven podiums from the past nine race somewhat masking his dip in performance.
"It's the most difficult time of my career," Bottas said. "I just want to perform and I haven't been doing that for some time, for many varied reasons.
"There are many, many question marks on me given that in recent races Lewis has been going very strong and the gap between us has been growing.
"I definitely have to turn it around very quickly, if I keep doing races like this it won't be good for anyone."
Bottas qualified fifth in Malaysia but started fourth when compatriot Kimi Raikkonen failed to make it to the grid. He got away well, almost taking second position by the first corner but soon struggled for pace and was unable to keep the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo behind.
"Mechanically we made the car's set-up equal for both cars so the only difference was in the aerodynamics," he said. "I was struggling more with the front end, which hadn't really been the case this year, in the mid-corner it's difficult to get the car to turn.
"I tend to quite easily overheat the surface of the tyre and then when the bulk temperature of the tyre versus the surface is not close enough you lose quite a bit of grip.
"Also, I've been sliding with all four wheels in the fast corners. If I tried to go quicker I would slide more and then would struggle more with tyre temperatures."
Bottas hopes he can get himself out of his rut otherwise it may begin to become quite demoralising.
"This sport is sensitive for the mental state," he said. "It maybe sounds funny but it's a very, very sensitive sport mentally and you need to be absolutely on it if you want to be the quickest.
"It's never a good thing when you jump in the car and you don't fell 100 percent."