Bottas boosted overall by Bahrain struggles

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Despite his relative under-performance in last Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix, Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas remains absolutely confident in his prospects in the near term.

After a troubled China Grand Prix, the Finn stepped up his game and clinched pole for Sunday's race but his hopes of achieving his first F1 win were dashed at the outset by wrong tyre pressures and then undermined by a lack of balance of his Mercedes W08.

Asked however if the disappointing result had impacted his confidence, Bottas denied any negative consequence, believing the weekend had on the contrary, boosted his assurance.

"This weekend was nice that I could perform a bit better in qualifying, so definitely from Australia, China, and here, I feel I can get more out of the car in qualifying.

"Even in the first race in Australia, and also in China when the car was working, the race pace has been good.

"So I know the race pace in there - this weekend also in qualifying. It is just the race here is a question mark.

"We still have 17 races to go. That is a lot. So I'm not thinking too far. I feel like it's still early days."

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Mercedes and Bottas were at a loss however to explain the Finn's pace and unsettled balance of his car in the latter part of Sunday's race.

"Stint one, we can explain the performance with the tyre pressures being just way too high," he said. "It was feeling like on marbles.

"Stint two and three, there is no explanation why the rear end wasn't working. The slow pace was definitely because of the balance and because of the rear end, so we have no answers yet what was causing it. For me, it wasn't normal.

"I was running out of all the tools with the diff and with the brake bias, trying to cure the oversteer and trying to improve the stability from the rear, but there was no way.

"When the tyres were new, they were okay, but very quickly when you rise up with the surface temperatures, it gets more and more tricky. A strange race for me missing so much pace. It's not so easy for me to explain."

GALLERY: All the action from the Day 1 in-season testing at Bahrain

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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.