Bottas looking to improve car balance

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Valtteri Bottas rounded off his first day of free practice and first official session with Mercedes with third fastest overall, a little over half-a-second behind team mate Lewis Hamilton.

The Finn clocked in 25 laps in FP1 and 34 in FP2, happy with his day of work but aware it is still early days.

"It was great to be back on track after Barcelona and overall it was a good day today," Bottas said.

"We still have work to do with the car balance but we got all of our running completed without any issues.

"From my side I definitely feel like I can make a step forward tomorrow. It'll be a busy evening for us tonight looking through all the data to see where we can improve but it's a reasonable start."

Bottas admitted that tomorrow's running would better reflect his potential.

"In terms of our pace, it is only practice, so tomorrow we'll find out exactly where we are. These tyre compounds are the right choice for this race.

"The softer compounds all felt good. Everyone is pushing to the limit, as we saw a few times out there today. This track is always quite dirty at the start of the weekend, but we'll get used to it."

GALLERY: all the pics from Friday's action

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.