The race for the 2017 Formula One world championship certainly took a big twist at the 2017 Russian Grand Prix as Valtteri Bottas, who started the race in third, ended up winning his first race. The Finn was signed by Mercedes to replace retired Nico Rosberg and after decent start to the season which saw him finish third twice; he proved in Russia that he was not there just to fill an empty seat at Mercedes.
A lot of questions were asked about Bottas and if he could actually put up a fight against the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel and the former Williams driver has certainly proved his doubters wrong.
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Despite Bottas proving to be one of the most consistent performers in Formula One this season, Mercedes' non-executive chairman Niki Lauda feels it's still too early to judge if he can challenge his Mercedes teammate for the world championship.
"This was one race, he has won his first race and now we have to wait and see. You cannot force this kind of thing. Bottas was quicker in Russia because he won the race but Lewis is an outstanding talent, a world champion," Autosport.com quoted Lauda as saying.
"Bottas beat him but perhaps the next three times maybe Lewis will do that. You cannot say that he is in the title fight but he is certainly a very good replacement for Nico Rosberg, I have to say. A pole position in Bahrain and to win the fourth race is not a bad performance for us."
Next up on the Formula One calendar is the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona and Bottas will be hoping he can continue the form he showed in Russia as he looks to close the point's gap on Vettel and Hamilton, who are currently ahead of him in the drivers' championship.
The Spanish Grand Prix also marks the first European race of the season and Formula One's big three teams Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull are all expected to make major upgrades. Ferrari and Red Bull are expected to focus their upgrades mostly on aerodynamics, while it is understood Mercedes is working on reducing its car's weight.
Lauda believes that all the upgrades leading up to the race in Barcelona and how close the battle at the top has been so far mean the competitive picture could change entirely this weekend.
"The season will start new. Who has the better upgrades, we don't know yet. But we will see in Barcelona," Lauda said.
