Bottas will be given time

2013 sees Valtteri Bottas take on the role of full time driver for the Williams F1 team after completing a season as the teams Friday driver. For the Finn this will be even more demanding than 2012.

In an interview for broadcaster MTV3 Valtteri spoke of what it was like in 2012..

Valtteri said: “Well, it was mentally tough.

“At the end of practice just when I had found a rhythm in the car I then had to give it back. And I knew that I would have kept improving if only I could have driven more,” said Bottas.

“As I then watched the race, of course I thought about what I might have been able to do. It was not so easy.

“Especially the weekends where I could not drive at all – they were very long.”

But the Williams F1 team has also made it clear that they are prepared to give Valtteri time to settle in to his new role.

In an interview for Motorsport Aktuell, a Swiss weekly, Williams co-owner Toto Wolff, said that Valtteri will receive “puppy protection”.

Wolff said: “He needs mileage and racing experience.”

“He is very fast and extremely intelligent, but we have to give him the right environment so that he can realise his potential.

“We can’t assume that he will be on the second row in Melbourne, even if the car is capable of it. I believe he can get the full potential from the car by the middle of the season.”