Valtteri Bottas has only “one target” in mind for the 2018 Formula One season and believes he is a much stronger position to achieve it in his second year with Mercedes.
The Finn is one of the drivers under pressure to perform this year, with the Brackley-based team only awarding a one-year extension to his contract and a number of rivals keen to make their case to replace him.
Motorsport boss Toto Wolff upped the ante suggesting the former Williams driver had “no excuse” not to challenge teammate Lewis Hamilton after a tricky second half of 2017, though ended with a victory in Abu Dhabi.
“[It is] a new season full of opportunities and my aim is to take those opportunities this year,” he said speaking on the official Mercedes website. “I have one target, everyone knows what it is. I have learned massively in my five years in F1, especially in 2017, so I have high targets.”
The 28-year-old is also expecting a boost from a full winter with the Anglo-German team, which means the W09 being developed will hopefully better suit his requirements.
“This year I have been able to follow that process [whereas] last year I joined and the car was ready,” he commented.
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After the strong end to last season, some are concerned Mercedes could increase their level of domination in 2018 after being conservative with their first design under the current regulations.
Bottas, however, is not so keen to be predicting the pecking order.
“There are always unknowns in F1 and mainly related to performance,” he stated. “For us as a team, we want to stay at the top but I am sure there are many teams that are willing to beat us.
“Our will to stay at the top is hopefully bigger,” Valtteri concluded.