Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas has said that Sebastian Vettel is his next target in the Drivers' Championship as the Finn tries to keep his title hopes alive.
Bottas, who joined Mercedes at the start of this season, finished third in Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix, struggling in terms of performance when compared to team-mate Lewis Hamilton who went on to take a dominant win.
"Of course, it was good for us, very good damage limitation today," said Bottas, surprised at the result Mercedes secured with the race in Singapore set to be a difficult one. "We definitely got lucky.
"But I have to say the car was working better than expected today. I was really waiting for the opportunities. I struggled in the wet with the pace but in the dry it was pretty good.
Through a third place finish in Singapore and with Sebastian Vettel crashing out on the first lap, Bottas is now only 23 points behind the Ferrari driver in the standings, although he is 51 points adrift from his team-mate.
"There are still plenty of races to come and plenty of opportunities," said Bottas when asked about his championship chances with six races remaining. "Definitely Sebastian is the next target.
Bottas also took the time to thank Mercedes for his surprising podium result after he started in sixth place, praising his team for a near perfect weekend: "I think we take it, although it’s not a 1-2, but at a difficult track for us 1-3 is nearly perfect, so thank you team."
