F1 news: Valtteri Bottas warns Lewis Hamilton and rivals after Spanish Grand Prix
VALTTERI BOTTAS insists he will win a Grand Prix this season.
Bottas finished second in Spain behind team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
It marked a one-two for Mercedes as they charge ahead own the constructors championship.
But Bottas admits he wanted to fight for the win and sees one coming round the corner.
"I wanted to fight for the win but as a team it's such a good race,” he said.
“We had such a good car and the team were so reactive today with the strategy.
"I never believed we could do a one-stop but we could, so I'm happy.
"As a team this weekend we've been perfect. We just need to continue like that and, for me, the win will come."
And Toto Wolff insists the victory wasn’t as comfortable as it looked.
Mercedes now lead the Constructors Championship by 27 points with 153, and while Wolff was delighted with victory, he stresses the hard yards were put in before the race even got underway.
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It wasn’t as comfortable as it looked because the race was good, Friday and Saturday were more difficult
Wolff said: “It wasn’t as comfortable as it looked because the race was good, Friday and Saturday were more difficult, and on Valtteri we were taking the tyres pretty far. We had pick up and a flatspot which caused vibrations which looked a bit grim. But Lewis at the front was really outstanding.
“We could see track position was so crucial. When Lewis was coming behind Max, he had the newer tyre but it’s just so difficult to overtake here.
“Sebastian’s front left was really bad, they needed to pit [the first time] and we were a bit worried that structurally we could have a failure so we decided to pit Lewis as well. In hindsight, we’d have rather stayed out but a structural failure ruins your race.
“I’m always on the worrying side. We’ve been very good in winter testing here and when we went to Australia everyone said it would be an easy Mercedes win and then we had difficult races. I think we were very good today but we need to stay calm and humble.
“Monaco could be a very different story. It is a track we have suffered a lot at in the past.
“It feels like we are back in business. But let’s wait for Monaco as it’s a different ball game.”
