Mercedes new recruit Valterri Bottas embracing F1 opportunity

  • 22/03/2017

Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas has spoken ahead of a new season of Formula 1, starting with practice at Melbourne, Australia.

Bottas, from Finland, substituted Nico Rosberg at Mercedes when the German driver retired after becoming 2016 Formula 1 champion.

The 27-year-old Finn started his career in Formula 1 with Williams where he achieved a total of nine podiums.

"I think for me it's a great opportunity. I think for sure it's a big challenge there's no doubt. I'll definitely need to prove myself, to a lot of people, and for the team that I deserve a place. I like to see things very positively.

"I see it's a great opportunity for my career to fight for the wins and hopefully even for the championship."

Since 2014, Mercedes have won both the drivers and teams championships in Formula 1, so there are high expectations on Bottas.

"Really excited about the new season of Formula 1. It's kind of a new era in Formula 1 with the regulation changes as well as, me changing to a completely new team, so it's a great challenge for everyone but I think especially for me, you know this team has been winning for the last three years and It's kind of a dream come true for me to be in a team like this, so it's a big year ahead."

Bottas' team-mate will be Lewis Hamilton. The three-time Formula 1 champion and Rosberg shared some tense moments as a driver pairing - and Mercedes won't want a repeat of that situation.

"So far it (Bottas and Hamilton's relationship) has been very good. I think during testing, we managed to work well as a team and it was a good team spirit the whole time and I see no reason why it shouldn't continue like that," said Bottas about the Englishman.

SNTV