Bottas has 'some unfinished business' in Sochi

Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas heads to Sochi armed with a double dose of motivation and determined to rake in a win at a venue that has treated him well in the past.

Firstly, Bottas is seeking to improve on his performance in Singapore where the Finn's qualifying efforts were inadvertently undermined by Lewis Hamilton for whom he was then forced to play a protective role on Sunday.

Secondly, last year's race in Russia - when team orders barked over the radio compelled him to move over for Hamilton, the future winner - is still very much in the Finn's memory.

• Bottas: Mercedes call to back off 'looked bad from the outside'

"I’ve got some unfinished business in Sochi," Bottas said last weekend. "It has normally been a good track for me, and I need to make sure it will be again."

Indeed, the 30-year-old's track record in Sochi since 2014 includes a podium with Williams, his maiden Grand Prix, achieved with Mercedes in 2017, and a runner-up spot last year with the Silver Arrows squad.

Bottas says there could some strong opposition from Ferrari to contend with, but overall the Finn believes in his chances.

"It could be a good track for Ferrari with all the straights, but we’re going there with a good feeling and determined to finish it better than last year and in a different way," he added.

"With such a quick turnaround you cannot do much with the car, but there will be things to do with the setup and there will also be some small bits here and there.

"But it’s mainly to take the points to learn from this weekend, to learn, forget and move on.

"For me, personally, that’s about it, then I’ll go to Russia, we all start from zero, and I’ll try to remember those good feelings from the years before and try to find that same flow I found there before and go from there."

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