Valtteri Bottas is feeling upbeat after driving his new Mercedes for the first time in anger at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in day one of pre-season testing.
The Finn completed 79 laps in the car before handing over to team-mate Lewis Hamilton in the afternoon.
Bottas made the move across from Williams in December after the shock retirement of reigning Formula 1 champion Nico Rosberg.
Speaking about how his first proper outing for the Silver Arrows went, Bottas told reporters in Barcelona: “It was very good for the first morning.”
“Everything was running very smoothly. First time on track today with the car, it’s a very good start.
“We had zero problems on the engine side or with the car mechanically or aerodynamically, so everything was running smoothly, checking the systems.
“The feeling was nice, good to feel the extra downforce. I’ve never driven a car with that much downforce, that’s for sure.”
Bottas will be back in the Mercedes W08 on Tuesday afternoon.
