Valtteri Bottas believes Mercedes' recent improvement is down to setup and balance work, though the Finn says the step forward isn't all that big. The Silver Arrows were the team to beat at the Turkish Grand Prix as Bottas cruised to victory, with both Red Bull cars unable to match him. Although Lewis Hamilton had to settle for fifth on a weekend where he took a 10-place grid penalty, both Mercedes cars performed well, especially in terms of straight-line speed . Bottas stated that whereas Mercedes were struggling with a lack of rear grip early in the season, they've been able to minimise those issues by improving the balance of the car. "If I look at the beginning of the season to now, for sure it handles a lot better," Bottas told RacingNews365.com and other members of the media. "I think the biggest issues we had with the car was the rear-end being quite unstable, and overall just lacking grip compared to last year. "I think we've just been able to balance the car a bit better recently. That's the main feeling, that it's a bit more stable and more driveable. "During the middle of the season, or beginning of the season, we did have some upgrades, but not lately. It's just been purely work on the setup, work on the balance, and just getting it more driveable." Although Mercedes appear to be in a much better place compared to earlier this season, Bottas believes they aren't miles ahead of anyone with six races remaining. "I don't really feel like we've made, as a team, big steps. We obviously stopped the development of this year's car quite early and it's been a pretty similar car for the last few races," Bottas added. "I think it's very track-dependent, and we always keep learning more about the package. It's still fine margins, it's not like we're miles ahead of anyone. It's still dependant on the track, so we need to keep that in mind."
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