Bottas 'saying all the right things' ahead of Mercedes exit - Ricciardo

Daniel Ricciardo is confident Valtteri Bottas is mentally prepared for his switch to Alfa Romeo from Mercedes next season.

Bottas has won four constructors' titles with Mercedes with the team leading in the quest for a fifth with the Finn and Hamilton partnering together whilst Alfa Romeo has dropped behind Williams to ninth in the standings.

Ricciardo left Red Bull at the end of 2018 for Renault, electing to step away from a race-winning drive for a building project.

Only after a further switch to McLaren has the Australian returned to the top step of the podium but through his own experience, Ricciardo believes Bottas will quickly adapt to life away from Mercedes.

"He's said all the right things," said Ricciardo.

"We've been in the sport a similar time now, he has a lot of experience, he understands what's involved in this sport.

"Making the switch now to Alfa, as he said, it's another project and it's probably going to take time.

"He's saying the right things, he gets it, for sure, and he knows."

Bottas currently has nine wins to his name from almost five years at Mercedes and with such a record, Ricciardo urged the Finn to keep a lid on his expectations.

"Keep saying what you're saying because you're on the right track," added Ricciardo.

"The expectation is a big one. Of course, you want to believe it's going to be amazing from day one.

"But have a little bit of reservation and with that comes steady growth and some realism behind a new adventure.

"If it was easy everyone would do it. Valtteri's pretty modest anyway so I think he's alright."

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