Mercedes chief compares Valtteri Bottas and Nico Rosberg after Australian GP performance
VALTTERI BOTTAS drove at least as well as Nico Rosberg would have done at the Australian Grand Prix, according to Mercedes chief Niki Lauda.
Niki Lauda was delighted with Valtteri Bottas' Mercedes debut
Bottas started and finished third in Melbourne having qualified behind Lewis Hamilton and eventual winner Sebastian Vettel.
The Finn was racing in the Mercedes team for the very first time after he signed a one-year contract in January to replace retired world champion Rosberg.
But Lauda, himself a three-time world champion and now non-executive chairman at Mercedes, believes Bottas more than adequately filled the German's shoes.
"The whole weekend he was a sensation," Lauda told Sky Sports.
"I don't think he would have been worse than Nico if he had raced here.
"It would have been exactly the same result."
Valtteri Bottas was beaten by Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel at the Australian Grand Prix
Mercedes were left with limited options when Rosberg suddenly quit because the majority of top drivers were already tied to long-term contracts.
Lauda and team boss Toto Wolff eventually plumped for Bottas because of his experience - the Finn amassed 77 races in five years with Williams.
"The biggest problem was that when Nico decided suddenly overnight that he was not going to race with us anymore, we were standing there with open mouths," Lauda added.
Valtteri Bottas showed impressive pace driving in a Grand Prix for Mercedes for the first time
"Then we had long discussions, Toto and I, [about] who should we take.
"Then for me, for sure we had the right choice, which was always Bottas, he was number one in the list.
"I went straight for him because we needed an experienced, quick guy.
"The young guy [Pascal] Wehrlein was for me a little bit of a risk because he did not have enough experience.
"We expected Bottas in a new car, with a new team, with the help of the team that he would get quicker."