If the Mercedes is going to be this dominant then if the championship isn't going to be a procession from race 1 there needs to be at the least someone who is capable of challenging Hamilton for the title in the other Mercedes . Bottas has been better this year , but he's still going to be no challenger for the title . Mercedes , at the moment , reminds me of the days when Mansell and Patrese were in the WIlliams . The Williams back then was by miles the best car and Patrese , although a competent driver , wasn't in the same league as the Sennas and Prosts but because his car was way better he was constantly second ( because Mansell was much better than he was in the same car ) . It'll be much the same this year with Merc with Bottas constantly second and the likes of Verstappen , Vettel and Leclerc fighting for third even though theyre much better drivers than Bottas . You expect one car to be slightly dominant each season , like Mercedes have already had it up to this year . But the dominance this year , much like the dominance of the Williams back then , is making a mockery of the ' sport ' . I don't blame Hamilton , Bottas or Mercedes because at the end of the day it's their sole job to win . But in a season when F1 has gone from free to view tv it desperately needed a more competitive season than the last few and instead it's lurched massively the other way killing interest in the races for anyone but fans of Hamilton , Bottas or Mercedes .