Bottas verdict on Mercedes-Alfa Romeo differences

Valtteri Bottas has been 'positively surprised' by the faith Alfa Romeo has put in him but has conceded the lack of personnel compared to Mercedes is evident.

The Finn joined the Hinwil-based team over the winter after helping Mercedes to five constructors' championships in succession.

With Zhou Guanyu also joining Alfa Romeo, Bottas was thrust into a team leadership role for the first time in his F1 career with an emphasis being placed on him to drive decision-making alongside his engineers.

Asked what he had assessed are the differences between the two outfits since his move, Bottas told GPFans: "I would say positively what was surprising was how much I say I have on things and whether it comes to set-up or run plan or development suggestions or anything.

"It's something that I was... for example, in testing, I got the question of how much fuel would you like to run today.

"Normally, I just get told. We could actually have a discussion about it. Simple things like that."

Bottas explains impact of smaller workforce

As an independent team, Sauber being the outfit lurking behind the Alfa Romeo badge, it may appear obvious that it would have less personnel on the payroll than Mercedes.

And in a new era of F1 with a reset to the developmental cycle, the lack of human resources has hit harder for Bottas.

"What is definitely lacking as a fact is fewer people," he added.

"For me, what is the most evident and visible thing is the production times, like if we find something in the wind tunnel, the lead time is longer.

"I would say that's one of the biggest things that is lacking at the moment, but the budget is getting there and yes, that's something that is in work in progress and I'm sure that we can get to be more efficient in the future."