Mercedes non-executive chairman Niki Lauda has heaped praise on Valtteri Bottas for "saving" the team after he pipped Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel to victory at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Starting from pole position ahead of both Ferraris and Lewis Hamilton -- who dropped down the grid due to a five-place grid penalty -- Bottas made a lightning-quick getaway before pulling clear of Vettel in the opening stint in Sunday's race. In the closing stages Bottas had to fend off the advances of a charging Vettel while also nursing worn tyres. The Finn kept Vettel at bay to cross the line just 0.6 infront and seal his second Formula One win.
"Valtteri saved us really, because to beat Vettel in this close race, it was only him," Lauda told Sky Sports after the race. "You can easily check with these sensors in the ground so thank god it wasn't one [jump start]. It looked a bit difficult in the beginning but he did a fantastic job."
Following a second place finish in Baku and his win in Austria, Bottas has hauled himself into title contention, with the Finn just 35 points behind Vettel and only 15 adrift of Mercedes teammate Hamilton. Bottas puts his recent form down to improvements he has made as a driver -- which he says is the result of feedback received from Mercedes and learning from Hamilton.
"In F1 it is all about details," Bottas explained. "It would take hours to talk about everything I have learned and developed. But it is the small things that matter when it comes to winning or losing. So many things, in terms of setting the car, how to approach the weekend with that, and driving wise, being alongside Lewis. [Having] Lewis as a my team mate, it would be stupid not to learn something from him. He's one of the best qualifiers ever in F1, and a three-time World Champion, so for sure I'm watching every single time if there's anything I can pick up.
"Just the amount of feedback I get from the team after each race, after each session, but especially the meetings we have a few days after the race. We go through every single bit that they think I can do better, just really direct feedback. This is a team of winners, and they know how to do it. It enables me to learn so much, and I'm just keen to work hard and get better, because as long as you want to improve, it never stops. So it's really exciting."