Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas is expecting the coming weekend at the Hungaroring Circuit in Budapest Hungary, the eleventh round of the 2017 Formula One Championship season, to be a great test the Silver Arrows, as the Brackley based squad look to continue their season-long battle with close rivals at Ferrari.
Since the Monaco Grand Prix, the Silver Arrows on track performance has improved significantly, culminating in two one two finishes for the team including a very dominant display in Silverstone last time out. However, while they may have learned a lot from Monaco, including stretching their lead at the head of the Constructors' Championship to 55 points, the twisty Hungaroring circuit is expected to favour the Ferraris.
The Mercedes duo struggled to match the red cars at the similarly high downforce Monte Carlo street circuit, but Valtteri is expecting a closer battle this time around….
"We've learned a lot about the car since Monaco," said Bottas. "We've been able to improve at this sort of circuit, so we're more confident going into this weekend that when we went to Monaco. I always want to know how I can improve. I think it's going to be a great test for our car, if we are competitive here against Ferrari."
"I think even Red Bull should be quite competitive around here. If we can be the quickest car here, then that will definitely boost our confidence a little bit for the year ahead. But like I've always said, it's still a long year ahead and we still need to continue to develop. This will be an interesting weekend for us to see how we do. Hopefully it will be good but we're expecting a close battle, closer than in the last few races."
