Despite struggling for pace at the last round in Singapore, Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas finished the first ever wet night race in the history of the sport on the third step of the rostrum with his teammate Lewis Hamilton on the top step.
Now the teams move on to Malaysia, another hot and humid race, however the Finn has a lot of confidence in their performance here this weekend as he fully believes that the sweeping corners and long straights of Malaysia's Formula One venue will suit the Mercedes.
However, despite that, he is still predicting an intense battle with their main rivals…
"It's going to be a hard fight with Ferrari this weekend and I wouldn't underestimate Red Bull, either," the Finn said. "They have been stronger and stronger this year and have been surprisingly quick in some places. I think it's going to be a close fight between the three of us. We did struggle pace-wise as a team in Singapore but we expect this one to be better for us. It should be interesting."
When asked about how he can gain more confidence for his second season with the team in 2018, he summed it up n a few simple words…
"I think I need to win more races!”
“That's what normally counts and of course we still have six races to go this season, I still have an opportunity to finish this year very strongly with many good results. Next year is going to be a new opportunity for me, a new challenge for us as a team. I just need to be better, and have less weekends struggling.”
“The past few races I've had quite a difficult time in terms of pure pace, so I need to work harder. But, next year will be quite a different feeling. There won't be as many things to get used to. I know how the team works, I know all the people and the car. That for sure took a lot of energy [this year]. I'm looking forward to it, but I am also looking forward to the last six races of this year."
