Bottas trying to find mental "good place" amid questions over his Mercedes future

Valtteri Bottas has vowed to mentally put himself in "a good place" this weekend in the face of continued questions over his Mercedes future.

After topping FP2 ahead of the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Bottas asserted he is focused "on my own work" after George Russell's strong performance last weekend in the Sakhir GP raised doubts over the Finn's longevity with the team.

Bottas is aware he must now put in a strong performance at the Yas Marina Circuit to remind Mercedes of his abilities.

"I'm just really focusing this weekend on my own work, mentally trying to be in a good place and taking it lap by lap," said Bottas.

"But yes, so far so good and I think, for me personally, the targets are clear for the weekend."

After finishing two-tenths of a second clear of Hamilton in the second session with a leading time of one minute 36.276 seconds, the Finn assessed: "It was good. Good practice sessions.

"Immediately the car felt good. Still, as always, a bit of work to do with the balance. The main issue was really getting the balance together across the lap.

"Some corners I'm struggling with the front end, some corners with the rear end but overall I'm not far off as the times show."

With Hamilton returning to the sister Mercedes after a weekend out after testing positive for Covid-19, Bottas said he was "happy" to see his regular team-mate back in the garage.

"It's nice to see him healthy and back because we don't wish for anyone to have that virus and it was not that mild so it is good to see him happy being back in the car," said Bottas.

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