Adapting to Mercedes harder than Bottas expected
After his first week in the Mercedes W08, Valtteri Bottas feels he is slowly beginning to adapt to life at the Formula One champions.
Valtteri Bottas has conceded that switching from Williams to Mercedes has proved a bigger challenge than he was expecting ahead of the 2017 Formula One season.
The Finn was plucked from Williams by the reigning constructors' champions to replace retired drivers' title-holder Nico Rosberg, and he has made a steady start in pre-season testing.
Bottas has been able to complete a full race simulation and was behind the wheel on Thursday as the paddock took part in wet-weather testing.
Adapting to being part of the sport's best side has been tough for Bottas, but he believes it is getting easier every day.
"Definitely I'm feeling more and more comfortable and more part of the team every day," he said, as quoted by Autosport.
"I already feel good. For example, walking in this morning, having breakfast, it felt normal, so that's a good feeling.
"I still think there is work to do. Changing teams is maybe a slightly bigger thing than I initially thought it would be. But it's not a hurdle that you can't go over.
"It's definitely possible and I've been working since the announcement [in January], pretty flat out, to get comfortable with everything, and that's why everything has run so far quite smoothly here.
"And I'm sure next week we will make big progress, and still before Melbourne I have time to go back to the factory, analyse everything with the engineers and I'm confident we are going to be ready and I will be completely part of the team before Melbourne."