Bottas gets comfortable in the Mercedes W12

Valtteri Bottas has undergone his Mercedes seat fit ahead of next week's launch of the W12.

Upon returning to the UK for the fit, Bottas was required to self-isolate for a week which he described as "not too bad" and "better than expected".

Last year he finished second in the drivers' standings to team-mate Lewis Hamilton, finishing 124 points adrift of the seven-time champion after taking two race wins to the Briton's 11.

The Finn, Hamilton and Mercedes young driver George Russell, who will race at Williams for a third successive year, are all out of contract at the end of this year.

After Russell's strong showing against Bottas in the Sakhir Grand Prix, the 31-year-old knows how important it will be for him to perform at a consistently high level throughout the record-breaking 23-race season.

2021 starts here. ? Just like home, @ValtteriBottas. ? pic.twitter.com/OHgSPBBGik

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) February 25, 2021

Unsurprisingly, Mercedes enter the year as favourites to take an eighth drivers' and constructors' championship double as it has yet to be beaten in the current V6 turbo-hybrid era.