Valtteri Bottas says he could immediately “feel the improvements” that Mercedes’ 2020 car – the W11 brought to the table, in the first few laps of pre-season testing.
“The first few laps with the W11, it really put a smile on my face because I could feel the improvements since last year,” said Bottas.
“It’s so impressive to see what the team can do over the winter, although there hasn’t been that much regulation change.
“But you could really feel the improvements, the increased downforce, how the car behaves mechanically, everything just felt better.”
However the Finn wasn’t able to explore the car’s full racing potential as the start of the 2020 season had to be postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“I knew that we have a great chance again this year to do lots of good things to achieve our goals that we have set for ourselves as a team and for me as a driver.
“So I was excited, and everyone in the team was, to see where the team would stand up against all the other teams when it comes to putting down the lap times in qualifying and finishing the race as fast as you can with good reliability.
“It felt good but you also want to keep your feet on the ground and see when it counts.
“We still have to wait for that moment a bit more unfortunately.”
Valtteri said a lot more on Mercedes’ YouTube channel. In the full video the Finn talks about how he’s keeping fit in isolation, his hopes when the 2020 season starts and more. You can watch the video below.
