Bottas: I would not want to be my teammate either

Amid warnings that he is facing huge challenges teaming up with Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes 'new boy' Valtteri Bottas is pulling no punches as he declares his intent to become Formula World Champion with his new team.

Speaking on MTV, Bottas said, "My goal is the F1 world championship, I really have the opportunity to get it. We expect to be able to rack up many kilometers during the winter tests and, if all goes well, we will have a reliable and fast car to challenge for the title."

Bottas also admitted that he was in touch with the man he replaced at Mercedes - Nico Rosberg - to get the World Champion's point of view about driving for the Silver Arrows,

"It was good to talk to Nico," said Bottas. "He has been with [Mercedes] for a long time and knows perfectly how things work from the driver's point of view."

"It's hard to explain, but F1 has many different areas of work, especially during a grand prix weekend. The most important thing is to know how the team operates and how to collaborate with them to get the most out of the car, " he added.

Last week Hamilton's father, Anthony Hamilton, warned here>>> that he did not envy any driver who cam up against his son at Mercedes - a jibe clearly directed at Bottas.

Hamilton senior said, "Anybody who goes up against Lewis needs to have planned their career correctly because it could be a career-ending move when you go up against Lewis."

The Finn responded to the comments with his own quip, "Well, I would not want to be my teammate either... I am not afraid to take on Hamilton. We have to wait, the season starts soon so we'll see how it goes."

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