Valtteri Bottas impact revealed at Mercedes: 'All about the little details'

Kimi Antonelli has hailed the impact Valtteri Bottas has had on his personal growth during the opening rounds of the F1 season. Antonelli was promoted to Mercedes this year in place of Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton, completing the 18-year-old's rapid ascension through his junior career. After being dropped by the Stake F1 squad, Bottas returned to Mercedes in a reserve driver capacity, and to offer assistance to Antonelli and George Russell. With Bottas boasting experience of almost 250 grand prix starts, Antonelli acclaimed the Finn's presence in his early F1 career. "I'm never going to refuse or never not going to listen to any advice,” Antonelli told media including RacingNews365 . ”I'm just a young fellow coming into the world of F1. I've got so much more to learn. He has a lot of experience so there’s no reason why I wouldn’t listen to his advice. “I try to embrace it and put it on the track as well. So it's been extremely helpful.”

Kimi Antonelli points to Japan example

Antonelli has bagged a trio of sixth place results to go along with his season-opening run to fourth in Australia across the opening phase of the season. It has left him sixth in the drivers' championship as he continues to get up to speed in F1. Antonelli pointed to a particular experience with Bottas in Japan as his team-mate helped him navigate the tyre warm-up of the Pirelli compounds. "In Suzuka I was struggling a lot with [tyre] warm-up,” Antonelli reflected. "So that was a really good help from him, explaining the best things to do in the warm-up in order to be able to extract the best of the tyre, having the tyres ready for the lap. "It's not so much about driving but all about those little details that can make the difference on track."