Valtteri Bottas still lacks the fight to beat Lewis Hamilton to a championship, Mark Webber and David Coulthard claim.

2019 began with the arrival of 'Bottas 2.0' in Australia as he claimed victory and told his critics post-race "to whom it may concern, f**k you".

By the end of the year, however, despite a total of four wins and five poles, he was still 87 points behind his Mercedes teammate in the Drivers' Championship standings.

And as the early dominance of the Brackley-based team also faded, Webber noted how there was only one man keeping them on top.

“It’s been a tough season for Valtteri," the Australian told Channel 4's The Marbles podcast.

“Ferrari were meant to come out of the blocks after winter testing, it didn’t happen, and Mercedes came out of the blocks and were very strong.

“Then we had the resurgence of Ferrari in the middle of the year, and again Lewis just showed his experience in dealing with that hot kitchen when Ferrari did arrive.

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“Bottas in terms of wheel-to-wheel, that hunger, that fight, going down swinging, often we still miss a bit of that with Valtteri," he suggested.

“Lewis has put the masterclass on everyone, Leclerc arrived with a couple of uppercuts, Seb [Vettel] with a couple of uppercuts, he’s just picked them off one by one.

“Over the season his stamina levels are extraordinary.”

Strong late-season form has raised expectations that Bottas can be more competitive in 2020, but to stand any chance against Hamilton, Coulthard believes he has to be less submissive.

“You continue to evolve throughout your career to the point where you mentally become tired and give up,” the 13-time Grand Prix winner explained.

“So I don’t doubt that he will have learnt from this year, he’s a bright lad, he’s got speed, so he’ll be able to apply that into the way he goes about his racing next year.

“He essentially has to start with out-qualifying Lewis which I know he has done a pretty solid job in that area, but once he does that he needs to consistently out-race him, which I think Lewis more often than not in wheel-to-wheel action he has been one of the stronger guys in that area.

“Beyond that it’s difficult to imagine what more he could do because it all comes down to lap time and on-track action. Everything else doesn’t really matter.”