Valtteri Bottas was signed by Mercedes and many expect the Finn just to be the number 2 of the team.

Although Lewis Hamilton has won more championships, he fought long and bitter with Rosberg who stubbornly refused to be a compliant team-mate to Hamilton.

Yesterday Bottas showed a glimpse of a new chapter of rivalry at the Brackley based outfit…

“If I thought I couldn’t match him or be faster, I would have stayed home. I believe in me, believe that it is possible to [be faster than Hamilton]. But I have to go step by step, race after race, ” said Bottas, after testing the new model of the Mercedes at Silverstone, where the team presented your new car.

Bottas toured a few laps around the track, as did Hamilton. The Englishman did praise the W08 model, while the Finn was more reticent. Bottas preferred to comment on his arrival at the team and his view on this newly forged cooperation with the Anglo-German team.

Naturally the Finn wants to keep the atmosphere friendly to offset the strong rivalry between Hamilton and his predecessor. “I see no reason not to work professionally as member of a good team, we will have disputes but we will work well as a team. I see no reason for that not to be possible. ”

On the track, however, Bottas does not aim to go quietly into the night and will do everything he can to overcome his teammate. “It will be a great challenge against Lewis. Obviously, it was never going to be easy. He is a great driver, three-time world champion, but I have no other plan other than keep racing to the limit” said the 2011 GP3 champion.

Much has been written about the transfer of Bottas to Mercedes. We simply want to be see good battles on the track, and we hope that Bottas finds fertile grounds to grow and make it the 2008, 2014 and 2015 world champion as hard as possible.