Valtteri Bottas says he has no intention of playing second fiddle at Mercedes as he aims to step up his performance with the German team next season.
After his unexpected move from Williams to Mercedes following Nico Rosberg's retirement, Bottas enjoyed a good first half of the year, settling in nicely at the Silver Arrows squad by putting two wins under his belt.
The Finn's performance slumped however over the summer as he struggled with Mercedes' temperamental W08 with which Hamilton appeared more at ease.
The difficult period left him well behind in the title battle and nowhere near his ambitions in terms of performance.
Recent improvements have boosted Bottas' prospects however, and he hopes 2018 will see him race on a par with his world champion team mate.
"In a few occasions, not as many as I would have wanted, I managed to be ahead of him," Bottas told Sky Sports News when asked about racing Hamilton in 2017.
"Even though he is a really, really good driver and very consistent, I also need to believe in myself.
"I can't put myself in a place of number two otherwise I would rather stay at home."
Bottas is setting up a tall order for himself in 2018, but the 28-year-old is confident he can iron out the kinks and wrinkles from his maiden season with Mercedes.
"This year I have learnt massively and I want to see it as kind of a learning year for me with the team," he added.
"Starting next year with the people I know it's going to be quite different and I just need to go for it and learn from all the hard times this year."
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