New arrival at Mercedes in F1 Valtteri Bottas is really excited at the prospect of the new season.
“It’s a new chapter in my career, a new team, new regulations… new everything! I’ve been waiting for a long time to get this car out on track. I’m looking forward to starting to test properly next week in Barcelona and to really understand the car that we’ve been given by everybody in Brixworth and Brackley”, Bottas said.
“It has been a busy winter for me since signing with Mercedes and we have tried to make the most of the time we have had. We’ve been going day by day, making the most of each one, spending a lot of time in Brackley and going through as much stuff as possible with the engineers.”
“I feel well prepared in such a short time. But, of course, the learning curve is still steep and I’m getting more useful information every day. It’s up to us to make the most out of the time together.”
“In terms of my physical preparation, I think I have done the most amount of training of any winter so far. I have done some good training camps and feel in the best shape I’ve ever been. Definitely ready for the season ahead.”
“Right now, it’s a very exciting feeling for me. I want to say a big thank you to everyone in our factories for getting this car ready to go. It’s been a massive effort and I’ve got a lot of respect for the shape we are in at the moment.”
Valtteri Bottas: It’s only the first step – and this is where the work really begins
Meanwhile Toto Wolff explained how the team will work with its drivers after the fiasco in last season’s final race in Abu Dhabi.
“The basic concept will stay in place but we are maybe going to call it differently. But not make it a complex internal regulation”, Wolff said.
“It might be completely different in terms of the dynamics between the drivers. It might be different in terms of dynamics with the other teams.”
