Valtteri Bottas insists he is under no additional pressure at this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix, having endured a difficult start to the 2018 season in Australia.
Bottas crashed out of qualifying on his first push lap in Q3 and the damage sustained to his Mercedes W09 necessitated a change of gearbox, relegating him to 15th on the grid.
Bottas was able to climb up the order through a combination of on-track passes, rivals dropping out, and the timing of the VSC period, but was able to reach only eighth, his worst classified result since joining Mercedes.
“Everything was processed during the weekend," said Bottas. "It was a bad weekend, that's it.
“We still have 20 races to go and we're here in Bahrain, so there's nothing really to worry about at this point.
“I think it feels like a normal race weekend. Of course you always want to perform and have a good weekend. But there is no point in gathering pressure from one mistake in qualifying.
“We have a competitive car, we know we still have work to do to make it better but I am looking forward to this one.”
Bottas claimed his maiden pole position at Sakhir 12 months ago while Mercedes held the quickest package in Australia in the hands of Lewis Hamilton, despite losing out on victory to Ferrari.
Bottas, though, says Mercedes remains wary of the potential of its opponent, which triumphed at the twilight event last year.
“I think historically Ferrari has been good here,” said Bottas. “They had good race pace in Australia. Last year they had stronger pace here than in Australia.
"So, I think they're going to be a threat and they're going to be close to us. Even Red Bull could be, too.
"But more than that, it's difficult to say. We will have to see how the weekend develops.”
