Valtteri Bottas insists there is no extra pressure on him to perform this weekend in Bahrain after the disappointment of an eighth place finish in the Australian Grand Prix two weeks ago.
The Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport driver crashed out of Qualifying at the start of the top ten shootout, and the subsequent gearbox change meant he started the race down in fifteenth, leaving him with a lot of work to do to even get into the points.
Bottas knows Mercedes has a competitive car this season, as was shown by team-mate Lewis Hamilton starting on pole position and finishing second, and with twenty races still remaining, he is not letting one bad race affect him as he has plenty of time to get the results he feels the team deserves.
“It was a bad weekend, that’s it,” said Bottas during the FIA Press Conference on Thursday. “Now we still have 20 races to go and we’re here in Bahrain, so nothing really to worry about at this point.
“We have a competitive car. We know we still have a lot of work to do to make it better. Just a bad weekend, so looking forward to this one.
“I think it’s a normal race weekend, that’s my feeling at the moment, honestly. Sometimes you have bad races and then there’s always the next one and of course you always want to perform but there is no point in gathering pressure from one mistake in qualifying.
“Of course, I always hope for a good weekend but yeah, I feel a normal race weekend ahead.”
