Finn looking to cut the gap to team-mate Hamilton in Bahrain
Thursday 13 April 2017 15:44, UK
Valtteri Bottas insists it is too early to say F1 2017 will be all about Lewis Hamilton versus Sebastian Vettel, as Mercedes' new recruit aims to join the battle at the front.
Bottas's career at F1's world champions has begun in mixed fashion with a debut podium in Australia followed by a costly race-day spin in China which contributed to a sixth-place finish.
With one win and one second place apiece, Hamilton, Bottas' Mercedes team-mate, and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel share the lead of the World Championship heading into this weekend's Bahrain GP, while Bottas is 20 points adrift.
However, despite widespread expectations that the battle for the title will distil into a straight duel between two of the sport's heavyweights if Mercedes and Ferrari remain level pegging for performance, Bottas believes he is improving and will soon step up another level.
"It is way too early to say there are only two drivers for the championship," Bottas said in Bahrain.
"It's a long season, so I wouldn't say it's just all going to be about Lewis and Sebastian. The season is long and things can change.
"Within the team they can definitely see through everything how my performance and how my pace really is. In the end, results are the thing that matters, and I'm very keen to get the proper result as soon as possible because every point I lose now is going to hit by the end of the year.
"But I don't feel I'm in a rush with everything. If I keep doing what I'm doing, and that is progress every single day with the team, I feel will be at a very, very good level very soon. So I don't feel any panic or rush to prove [that].
"The team knows exactly where I am with my performance and that's what counts."
Bottas held his hands up to an "amateur" mistake after spinning behind the Safety Car last Sunday while warming up his tyres. While he admits he spent the next day thinking about the error, he said he woke up on Tuesday "fully focused on this race and thinking ahead".
Although the end result was below expectations, Bottas says there were positives to take from his performance in Shanghai and is hopeful of edging closer to Hamilton's pace in Bahrain.
"In general, pace-wise, the race was not bad," he said. "Whenever I was running in free air the pace was there. I struggled a bit more with the balance compared to Lewis, with the front-left tyre, and that meant my tyre wear was higher due to more understeer.
"We also found a small mechanical issue from the race which slowed my car down a little bit, so if we count that I think my race was very good. That's not the problem.
"Qualifying was about details and I think I managed to make a step forward from Melbourne to Shanghai with the overall performance. So aiming to be better this weekend, for sure we can be strong and very close with Lewis."
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