Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas only has eyes on adding to his first Formula 1 win in Sochi two weeks ago.

Some had begun to question if the Finn was becoming the number two at the world champions after events in Bahrain, however, holding off Sebastian Vettel to take the checkered flag was his way of an emphatic answer, no. 

Now, as the sport returns to Europe, Bottas insists only being in a position to repeat that success every weekend will do. 

"It would be stupid not to go for the win – that is going to be the only goal in every race," he told the BBC.

"It is always possible and what is so exciting this year is going to every race I know there is an opportunity for the race win."

Explaining how he intends to achieve that goal, he added: "The main thing for me is to keep doing what I'm doing and focus on my own thing.

"You need to believe in yourself and know you can be at a competitive level but the main thing is really just keep going and work hard and focus on your own job.

"And my job is to drive the car as quickly as possible. There are many details that go into that but that doesn't change whatever the situation is, whoever is the team-mate."

There's also no doubt that achieving that first victory in Russia has given the 27-year-old a major lift.

"It does make a difference," he said, "and it is always a confidence boost when you have a good result and many times you can carry on that momentum.

"I feel the main momentum at the moment is how I have been able to improve every single qualifying and race, and I want to keep that, improving all the time."

Team principal Guenther Steiner has defended Haas F1's ongoing brake problems as the team will likely revert to Brembo material for this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix.

The American outfit has been blighted by inconsistency and failures for much of the last year, recently trialling Carbone Industrie at the Bahrain test before using them on the Friday at the Russian Grand Prix.

However, problems adapting to the different material meant a full-time switch had to be abandoned for now. 

“We started off with CI brakes in Sochi [but] we weren’t getting enough cooling for them, and if you don’t cool them enough, you overheat the brake itself and the pedal gets long,” he said.

“Also, the wear is very high. We looked into it to see if we could survive a race, but we realised we could not, therefore, the decision was taken to go back onto the Brembo. As it stands now, we will race Brembo in Barcelona.”

"As it stands now, we will race Brembo in Barcelona,” he added.

Having now completed back-to-back tests of the two materials, Steiner does think Haas has a clearer picture of their current brake predicament. However, he still admits a final decision could be some way off.  

“To figure out how we can fix the problem will take a bit, but we will get there,” he insisted.

“It isn’t an easy problem to solve. We will take our time. We know what we’ve got after our Bahrain test with CI brakes, and after Sochi in FP1 and FP2. We know what we need to do and what needs to get done, but it will take a little bit of time."

“Romain was pretty happy with the latest iteration of Brembo. He said he’s ok with it. Kevin liked the CI better because the bite is better. He just has a better feeling with the CI brakes.

“Now we need to get the CI working and see where we stand before coming to the absolute conclusion. I’ll be happy when we can check this off of our list.”

Trying to explain why the brake issues persist, Steiner added: “Everybody needs to understand that this is a very sophisticated brake system. It is not easy to fix.

“The obvious question, and rightly people ask, is that it cannot be this difficult to fix a brake. It actually is. It isn’t easy. This is because they’re highly complicated technologies, they’re highly advanced.

“When you change from one to the other, you encounter issues you’re not aware of until you try it properly.

“Without testing during the season, you need to do it in FP1 and FP2. You always have to wait two weeks to do something. So you can never go and do a proper test and do modifications. You always have to fit it in somehow.

“It compromises your testing, and that’s why it takes so long. It’s not that we’re not working hard. Our people are very competent and can do this, it just takes time.” 

Formula 1 CEO Chase Carey expects the Singapore Grand Prix to remain on the calendar beyond this season.

Following the announcement earlier this year that the nearby Sepang Circuit will end its stint on the schedule after 18 years this Autumn, the future of the street race at Marina Bay has also been called into question. 

Organisers, much like those in Malaysia, are weighing up whether the value meets the cost of hosting the race, which has been a major success since becoming the first night race in 2008.  

"We are actively engaged on redoing Singapore, so we don't expect Singapore to go away," Carey was quoted by Crash.net as saying. "We've got to reach a deal, but we are actively engaged there and our goal is to continue the race in Singapore." 

Should the city-state race remain it would be part of a 21-race schedule in 2018, which will see Germany and, notably, France return for the first time in 10 years. However, as Carey continued, expanding the calendar globally remains a key priority.

"We have a lot of interest you know, beyond Singapore, Malaysia you know, really across the world, it's not just Asia," he explained. "We have a list of locations that want to add races and in many ways were trying to engage with as many of them as possible, evaluate there in both in markets like Europe that obviously are much more historical markets, as well as opportunities in the Americas and Asia.

"You know, we want to make sure we understand what each of those opportunities means to us as we go forward. Although in many ways priority one is to make sure we're doing everything we can to make the 21 races we'll have next year as successful as possible."

The CEO concluded by highlighting the impact Singapore has had on the development of F1 in the Far East and the importance of maintaining a strong presence in the region. 

"Asia is, like the Americas, there are important growth markets for us," he said. "We've got in Singapore a race that has been a very successful race for us.

"We started off in Asia this year and really had crowds that were up significantly in China and Australia."

The legendary Brabham name could be returning to Formula 1 as part of a takeover of the Force India team, according to veteran journalist Roger Benoit.

The long-time correspondent for Switzerland's Blick newspaper made the claim citing reports in Autocar, suggesting current embattled owners Vijay Mallya and Subrata Roy are looking to sell the Silverstone-based outfit for around £200 million.

This comes as Mallya is currently facing extradition back to India to face legal charges against him, while Roy has also recently served jail time. 

The Autocar report added David Brabham, son of three-time F1 champion Sir Jack Brabham, is working with a US-based consortium on a project that would be based on McLaren's model of combining a supercar company with an outfit in F1.

Asked about the rumours, the Australian was noncommittal telling Autocar: "Brabham is a brand with more than 69 years of racing heritage and it is our intention to see the name back on track.

"Since Project Brabham was launched, we have received a lot of enquiries from different parties who have expressed an interest in licensing the name and we are evaluating a number of options. We have no further comment."

Benoit also wondered whether F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone was involved, with the 86-year-old still looking to use his significant influence to shape events in the paddock. Ecclestone also has history with the Brabham name, as it was he who bought the original Brabham team in 1972 before selling on and focusing full-time as the commercial rights holder in 1987.

Force India would be an attractive venture for a party looking to enter F1, as they finished fourth in last year's Constructors' Championship, their best result since joining the grid in 2008, and currently sit in the same position again after four races of the 2017 season.

Two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso simply wants to get the most out of his McLaren at his home Grand Prix this weekend in Barcelona.

The Spaniard, who's last win came for Ferrari at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya four years ago, is yet to finish a race in 2017 due to Honda's power unit woes but has previously found himself fighting around 10th place prior to retiring. 

However, with F1's return to Continental Europe also typically acts as a reset for the pecking order, as teams bring their first major development updates to their machines, Alonso admits predicting where McLaren will stand is a difficult question. 

“After a run of difficult races for us, I’m not sure what we can expect from this weekend,” he said. “We’re expecting some various new parts – which we bring to every race – but we can’t really focus too much on performance until we have solved our reliability issues. That’s always our focus.

“I know the team is working extremely hard to get to the bottom of our recent problems, and I am hopeful we can have a smooth race and a weekend with very few issues."

Regardless of where Alonso finds himself on the grid for Sunday's race, what is clear is making the finish in front of his adoring supporters is also a main priority for the 32-time winner.

“For me, qualifying has been an exciting session in the past few races and I hope we can repeat that in Barcelona, but the most important thing will be to maximise whatever grid slot we achieve on Saturday, on race day,” he added.

As for team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne, the former GP2 champion is looking to build on his first finish of the year in Sochi and hopes it can act as a foundation for an eventual turnaround in form for the British squad.

“Although we weren’t proud of our performance at the Russian Grand Prix, we could still take some positives from the weekend and I’m pleased I was able to finish the race, after a few tough weekends,” the 25-year-old said.

“It was important for me to get some more mileage under my belt, and we managed to gather a lot of valuable information, which is helping to shape the development of both the chassis and the power unit as we continue through the season.”

Stoffel Vandoorne does not think the struggles of his McLaren team will have a lasting impact on his Formula 1 career.

The former GP2 champion is enduring a difficult first full season in F1, as a lack of performance and reliability with the Honda power unit is severely impacting the British squad's ability to race.

It also means the highly-rated Belgian has been largely unable to show what he can do, but Vandoorne is confident his past success will continue to speak for itself. 

"I don't think my career has been damaged by what's happening here," the 25-year-old said.

"In the past, I've been used to fighting for victories and championships, no matter in what series I was.

"Maybe it's a different scenario this year, because we're not in a position to fight for victories or the championship."

Asked how the problems have impacted his approach to racing, Stoffel added:"That makes you think differently and work differently with the team and paying attention to details, pushing the team in different areas.

"Obviously that's not a position you want to be in, as a driver. You want to be fighting for victories, for the best positions, so, hopefully there will be improvements soon and we'll be in a position to do that."

Former Red Bull driver Mark Webber has queried the mindset of Jenson Button, as the Briton prepares to participate in the Monaco Grand Prix.

The 2009 world champion retired from Formula 1 at the end of last year but remained in an ambassadorial role with McLaren which included being the defacto third driver.

Therefore, when Fernando Alonso announced he would be racing at the Indy 500, Button was the first man on the list to step into his seat.

However, with the streets of Monte Carlo set to be a very different challenge with the 2017 cars, the Australian suggested the decision not to drive the car until Thursday practice was an underestimation of what lies ahead.

"When I heard that (Button) wouldn't do the Bahrain test, I wondered if he was taking it seriously enough," Webber told Austria's Speed Week. "For me, if he's doing a triathlon in America rather than a test in Bahrain, I think first practice in Monaco will be a wake-up call for him.

"I just get the impression that he doesn't really care about it."

The former WEC world champion went further, claiming the current issues facing the Woking-based team and their engine partner means the return of Button is merely an afterthought.

"It's a non-story," he said. "He'll drive, have problems with the fuel system, qualify 16th, retire after 12 laps or whatever. What's the point? Jenson is a world champion. He has won at Monaco. It would be a story if he could fight for the win, but to get a point if he's lucky, that really doesn't interest anyone."

Prior to the comments by the always outspoken Webber, Button described his one-off drive in Monaco as a "dream", adding initial work on the simulator had gone well.

"You jump into the simulator and after five laps there's that 'OK, I've still got it then'," he was quoted by ESPN.

"I can still direct the car around the corners and I still know how to change gear and push the brake pedal and modulate the throttle. That never leaves you."

It is unlikely Red Bull's significant upgrade will see a change in the team's position in the pecking order, according to Daniel Ricciardo.

The Milton Keynes-based outfit has scored just a single podium so far this season, falling over a second off the pace of their rivals at Mercedes and Ferrari.

Though there are hopes the updated RB13, set to race at next weekend's Spanish Grand Prix, could be up to a second faster, the Australian doesn't expect to be suddenly much more competitive.

"I know we still need to see where we are in Barcelona, but unfortunately we're too far away from the front at the moment," Ricciardo admitted.

"Even if we have a good update in Barcelona, it's hard to see how that instantly puts us on the top step, and we all know that.

"It could take a little while for us to be able to fight for some wins, but we're optimistic we can make up some good ground.”

Despite his conservatism, Ricciardo stressed the importance of Red Bull's upgrades working as expected, as the F1 season enters one of its busiest periods.

"There's no magic bullet in Formula 1 that's going to see us start winning every race from here, that sort of thing just doesn't exist,” he said.

"So I'm hoping we can be pleasantly surprised with any gains we make next weekend.

"Spain will probably shape the season from Barcelona until Budapest and the mid-year break, so it's an important one for us to get as right as we can."

What may interfere in evaluating the successfulness of Red Bull's work is a very conservative tyre allocation by Pirelli for next weekend's Grand Prix. Something that Ricciardo was highly critical of.

"We're going for the harder tyres for the first time this year in Barcelona," he confirmed.

"I'm not sure if it'll help us or not but I just don't think it's going to be good for anyone. The tyres are already hard enough so the harder compounds are just way too hard.

"Hopefully for Barcelona's sake it's hot and therefore these harder tyres work, but if it's cold then it's going to be a struggle for everyone," he added.

Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff is predicting an "interesting" battle between his team and Ferrari at the Spanish Grand Prix.

As Formula 1's European season gets underway, all eyes will be on the upgrades each team brings, as the much-anticipated development battle at the front steps up a gear.

So far, it has been the Brackley-based team's inability to optimise the Pirelli tyres that has allowed the Scuderia to take advantage, with both squads taking two wins each in the first four races.

However, looking ahead to this weekend's race in Catalonia, Wolff admits to a little trepidation at just how the top two will compare.

"Barcelona will be interesting as our pre-season was not spectacular in Spain,” the Austrian admitted. “It's a very different track to Sochi and we'll be running with harder tyres.

“We are taking this season one race at a time. If we deliver the best possible work from Friday onwards, then we'll be ready to win and fight with Ferrari.”

On a broader note, the season now heads into a busy period, with seven races in 11 weeks, and Wolff acknowledged how important it is for Mercedes to try and cultivate an advantage over their rivals.

“The prevailing feeling is that there is lots of homework to do to come back stronger with a car that can perform on a consistent level every weekend,” he claimed. “I have the feeling that we are moving in the right direction but we need 24/7 shifts to achieve our ultimate targets."

On his drivers, Toto added: "We expected Valtteri to develop through every single race and step up his performance and he's shown that. He's coped extremely well with his calm approach to setbacks and he hasn't been carried away with success.

“It came early in Bahrain with the pole position and then he had a setback in the race. He replied with an exceptional performance in Sochi, in just his fourth Grand Prix for Mercedes, and showed that he's on the right path.

"On the flip side, Lewis had a difficult weekend in both qualifying and the race [in Sochi]. We have spent our time since then unpicking what happened to understand why we couldn't get the car in the right window so he could feel comfortable with it.

“There are no magic bullets to understanding that, just a lot of hard work and attention to detail. We must give him the tools he needs to do the job in the next races and that will be a big focus for us.”

Finally, Wolff also admitted he wasn't ruling out the third member of F1's 'big three' from making a recovery after a disappointing start to 2017.

“At the moment there are two top teams fighting for both championships and I expect Red Bull will also eventually join the club,” he said.

“The small margins we are seeing this season are demonstrated by the closeness at the top of the Drivers' championship and even more so by the one point advantage we have in the Constructors'. This fight will continue on to the end of the season and we will be prepared for that battle."

A second 'Champions for Charity' football match has been confirmed for July 3, honouring seven-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher.

The event first took place last year in support of the 'Keep Fighting Initiative' launched by the Schumacher family as the German legend continues to recover from major head injuries sustained in a horrific skiing accident in France in late 2013.

Well-known sportsman including German footballer Miroslav Klose, basketball player Dirk Nowitzky and former F1 champion Mika Hakkinen have already confirmed their attendance, with Nowitzky's foundation another charity to benefit from the game in Mainz.

Mick Schumacher, son of Michael and current European F3 driver, will also be participating in the event which attracted 25,000 spectators a year ago to pay tribute to his father.

"For me it is a matter of course that I am attending Champions for Charity,” he said.

"At last year's match I barely stopped laughing, and it's a good feeling to be able to support charitable initiatives.

"This combination of fun and purpose is perfect in my eyes.

"I am glad that Dirk, along with all the other players and the spectators in the stadium can see it the same way; and I'm looking forward to an entertaining match," he added.