What can Valtteri Bottas achieve at Mercedes?

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UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

There is no doubt Bottas is a fast, consistent, and error-free driver. This makes him a solid, reasonable choice for Mercedes, which has been keeping tabs on his progress thanks to his ties with Wolff and Williams’ power supply. But was the Finn the best replacement for Rosberg?

The naysayers would argue that Mercedes had little options on the table anyway, with Vettel and Alonso both under contract at Ferrari and McLaren respectively in 2017.

Hulkenberg just signed with Renault, after his former Force India team-mate Sergio Perez had turned down an offer from the French constructor with a Ferrari seat in mind. Toro Rosso ace Carlos Sainz also emerged as a potential candidate but Red Bull moved swiftly to nip the rumours in the bud, while Jenson Button’s best years are probably behind him.

With Mercedes not keen to fast track the ascent of its young drivers Esteban Ocon and Pascal Wehrlein – where Red Bull had no qualms pulling the trigger to promote Max Verstappen –, Bottas seems the most logical choice. Even more so with Rosberg dropping his bombshell so late in 2016.

Still, it is hard to assert with confidence that the latest Flying Finn is world champion material like Ricciardo and Verstappen are. What is certain though is that Bottas is a hard-working professional with great work ethic and humility, having acknowledged for instance that he could improve on race starts.

While Bottas’ floor is pretty high, doubts about his ultimate ceiling remain, as highlighted by the reported length of his Mercedes contract, which would be for one year with an option to extend his stint.

“I always set the bar really high, I really set tough goals for myself,” the Finn said. “The pressure, if there is any, comes from me because I want to win races, I want to win championships. I know there is a great team behind me, everyone is going to help me a lot here to get used to the team, how it works.

“I’m starting my fifth season so I have some kind of experience but I feel I have not achieved anything in Formula 1 yet. So I’m really hungry for the wins and for us to win the title. For me personally, I’m prepared to work really hard. I’m still young and fast.”

Vettel, Alonso, and Sainz are all entering contract years in 2017 so the time has come for Bottas to show his mettle and silence the critics, who became more vocal after a deal to join Ferrari reportedly fell through in mid-2015.

Yet, the Finn must be careful not to race through the stages but the 27-year-old seems level-headed enough to avoid the pitfall.

“For sure, I need to go step by step. Getting my first win will be the first target but I’m setting the goal that I can perform at the level where the car is from the first race onwards and for the whole season bring as many points, as many podiums, as many wins with this car.”

With Mercedes likely to retain an edge in 2017, F1 fans should welcome the idea of Bottas giving his new team-mate a run for his money. Despite the German manufacturer’s utter dominance in the latest turbo era, it was the Hamilton-Rosberg rivalry and flashpoints that kept things interesting deep into the season.

If Mercedes expects a lot from its new driver, so do we.