Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas has spoken about how eager he is to seize more opportunities in 2018 as he aims to perform better in his sophomore year with the Silver Arrows with one target in mind.
Scoring three wins and four pole positions in his first season with the Brackley-based outfit was a solid effort in 2017, with team-mate Lewis Hamilton taking six more victories and winning the world championship, the Finn is keen to prove he is just as capable.
Looking ahead to the new season in a Q&A with the Mercedes team, when asked about what he is looking forward to the most, he replied: "Well, it is always so exciting driving a new car for the first time.
"The team is working so hard on the car and this year I have been able to follow that process, and see how demanding it has been. Because last year I joined and the car was ready. So, yeah, I'm looking forward to trying the new car and then it is a new season, everyone starts from zero. A new season full of opportunities and my aim is to take those opportunities this year."
With plenty of work to be doing ahead of the new season, Bottas also expressed how happy he has been with the preparations made so far by his Mercedes team after visiting them on his first days getting back to work.
"It has been really good to be back," he added. "It is always a nice place to come. I have met a lot of people, I have been through many departments of the factory, seeing what is going on.
"This time of year is so busy and things are going fast, it is nice to see how everything is coming together. Being in the simulator, meetings with engineers, it's been pretty standard stuff. It is a bit simpler this time around compared to one year ago because I don't need to get to know everyone. It's been a very good week."
When pressed on what his personal target is for 2018, he added: "I have one target, everyone knows what it is, I have learned massively in my five years in Formula 1, especially in 2017, so I have high targets. And for us as a team, we want to stay at the top."
Mercedes will unveil their 2018 challenger and shakedown the new W09 at their launch event on February 22.
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