That’s according to former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher who believes the Finn’s performance in winning the Australian Grand Prix was a one off.
Bottas jumped Hamilton off the line and dominated the race to pick up a victory.
But it has since emerged that the world champion had floor damage to his Mercedes car which was hampering the performance.
“I would say that was just a good weekend for him [Bottas] – no more and no less,” Schumacher said on his Starting Grid podcast.
“I would not interpret that much.
“He showed in qualifying that he is on the level of Hamilton, but in the end he was still a tenth away because he has just made the famous mistake – without [Hamilton’s damaged] underbody and the start it would be the usual picture I’m pretty sure.
“That’s why: Yes, it’s good that he made it, but we do not have a new Bottas, which would be very surprising.”
Schumacher believes consistency and momentum is what Bottas will need to have any chance of competing with Hamilton.
“Bottas definitely needs the momentum – no question about last year – and he’s a driver anyway, who can be as quick as an arrow, but not so constant – and not so constantly under pressure,” he explained.
“He did not really have that kind of pressure that race because he could lead.
“Lewis’s strength is his consistency, his ability to race at the right time, and then I want him [Bottas] to do it, but I would be very surprised if he had learned that over the winter.
“It’s also a character thing after all, but he still drove a strong race, which makes me very happy for him.”
And Schumacher thinks Hamilton would have struggled to get past Bottas in Melbourne even with a healthy car.
“Lewis would have had to overtake him with a good car first, and I would not have seen it that weekend,” he explained.
F1 action returns next weekend with the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel came away with the victory last season.