Lewis Hamilton warning: Valtteri Bottas has some stern words ahead of new F1 season
VALTTERI BOTTAS believes he is better placed to rival Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton for the F1 title this season.
Bottas only joined the Silver Arrows last January after the surprise retirement of Nico Rosberg, giving him little time to prepare for the start of his first season.
He won three of 20 races in his debut season with the Brackley-based outfit, including Abu Dhabi in the final weekend of 2017.
But he struggled to consistently challenge Hamilton at the front of the grid as the Briton won their intra-squad battle with ease.
Yet Bottas feels that in 2018 he can pose a sterner test to world champion Hamilton, who has won three of the last four available titles, and his status as Mercedes' main man thanks to his extra preparation time.
It’s been a much smoother start to the season, with the testing and everything. I think I’ve learned massively.
Bottas said: “Last year there were so many new things I had to learn, like how the team works and getting to know everyone. All that and the new car.
“Now it’s been a much smoother start to the season, with the testing and everything.
“There’s been more time to really focus on the performance and things that matter.
“I think I’ve learned massively. I think always when you kind of change, when you have different people around you, like last year, there’s always a chance to learn a lot more, a different kind of philosophy and things.
“Because I signed quite late − it was mid-January − with the team, it was maybe a bigger challenge than I thought.
“Getting used to the new environment and the team and the way of working and everything.
“That was a big challenge, and of course getting to know the car perfectly.”
Valtteri Bottas admits Lewis Hamilton makes him angry
Bottas also insists he has studied what went wrong in a number of races last year, having finished fifth or lower on four occasions to leave him third in the final standings - behind Hamilton and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel.
And in light of his self-perceived improvement, the former Williams racer revealed that he and Mercedes have set tougher goals this year.
“Last year, I learned massively from every single race,“ Bottas told TrustedReviews.
“Now, going to every race there’s always kind of notes taken, what kind of things I need to focus on to try to do better than last time.
“The goals are higher and the expectations are higher for me and the team. It’s a nice situation to always have clear targets.
“I’ve really tried to focus on all the weaker results I had and what I can do better.”