Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff has laid out what Valtteri Bottas needs to do to keep his seat in 2020.

After a difficult season last year, the Finn became the first driver since 2012 to go a full year with the Brackley-based squad without a victory.

Now, with Esteban Ocon as reserve driver having been ousted at Racing Point, the pressure is on Bottas to prove he would be a better option than the Frenchman heading into a new decade.

"Valtteri knows exactly where he needs to be next year, he needs to have all the bad luck gone and perform on a level with Lewis [Hamilton]. That is what is needed for the 2020 year," Wolff was quoted by Autosport. "He knows very well that, and he has that in him."

Bottas ended 2018 a massive 161 points behind his teammate in fifth in the Drivers' Championship and had to play a support role officially from the Italian Grand Prix but had helped Hamilton before then.

More worrying for the 29-year-old is his team boss only expects Hamilton to get better.

"Lewis improving means Valtteri needs to improve," Wolff continued. "I've seen that improvement all the time with him, but you are going against a five-time world champion.

"He needs a start where it's right up there with Lewis and all the other drivers for the championship. That is what he needs."

Also Read:

• Verstappen has dig at Hamilton: It's very easy when Bottas is so far behind
• Wolff: We trust Bottas but Ocon is an option for 2020
• Bottas rejects idea of seeking Rosberg advice on beating Hamilton

The Austrian has faith, however, that Bottas, should he perform at his best, does have what it takes.

"Beating a five-time world champion at the peak of his performance is going to be very difficult and Valtteri knows that, but I think that he has it in him," Toto declared.

"He can win - he has proven it [in 2018] on a few occasions, but he had bad luck or was in a position where he could not win.

"If that turns into a positive momentum that is actually driving for the championship, I think that Valtteri can win the championship."

Kimi Raikkonen isn't ready to make any predictions for his first season back with Sauber but is looking forward to the "different" challenge.

The Swiss outfit enjoyed a strong upturn in performance last year as a closer relationship with Ferrari, including a partnership with Alfa Romeo, saw them finish eighth in the Constructors Championship with their best points total, 48, since 2015.

Raikkonen, who joins on a two-year deal, got to taste last year's car at the post-season test in Abu Dhabi but admits setting a goal for this season isn't yet on his mind.

“I haven’t really thought about it, we’ll see once we start driving the new cars,” he said.

“Obviously it’s a different challenge but I enjoy that, so that’s why I took it. If you ask many people there are many different opinions on how it will go.

“We’ll find out and we’ll do our best and I think we have a good chance to do some great things.

“Where that is going to take us, who knows? We’ll find out.”

Also Read:

• Vasseur: A 'spiral' of positive events attracted Raikkonen to Sauber
• Raikkonen's move to Sauber a 'blow for F1', says Mercedes boss
• Raikkonen surprised by Ferrari/Sauber similarities during Abu Dhabi test

The 2007 Formula 1 champion surprised a few with his decision to re-join Sauber, the team he started with back in 2001, and does have some expectations as to how it'll be different from racing with Ferrari.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” Raikkonen said. “It’s going to be different in many ways, but the aim will still be the same.

“It’s more pure racing than the other stuff there. Hopefully, it will turn out to be good for both of us – that’s the aim.

“I think that’s what we can do but I’m maybe completely wrong, but I have a good feeling about it and that’s why I accepted to go back there.”

Honda is expecting to find a "big advantage" from Red Bull and Toro Rosso sharing a greater number of parts in 2019.

While the junior outfit has always taken some components from the Milton Keynes factory, including the gearbox mechanics, the rest of the car has been completely independent.

However, this year, the complete gearbox plus rear suspension will be shared along with some elements of the front suspension, an area Red Bull is thought to be ahead of their rivals.

It also means Honda can concentrate on one design despite now supplying two teams for the first time since their works team and Super Aguri in 2008.

"I think it's a big advantage," technical director Toyoharu Tanabe told Autosport. "We don't need to communicate between one team and another team, or they ask us completely separately.

"We don't have that situation. Of course, they have a slightly different design and we need to adapt to each team but it's not a big specification change."

As for other benefits of now having four cars using their engines as opposed to two, Tanabe continued: "Theoretically we have double the data, not only trackside but on the development side.

"We have a different team [in Red Bull], a different car philosophy, a different way of working, especially trackside. We can get more information, more knowledge from a new team and that's a big benefit for us."

Also Read:

• Red Bull: Developing Honda relationship is 'very positive' ahead of new season
• Renault: Honda still behind us and Red Bull 'hiding the facts'

It has come with some other challenges, however...

"We are increasing people at the factory of course," Honda's motorsport boss Masashi Yamamoto added. "Trackside, we have to have twice as many people as this year.

"We have to have another assembly team for the race engines.

"Maybe for certain jobs we can share between both teams, but doubling the job, that means I will lose speciality - so having more people is a sensible idea."

Lewis Hamilton says never asked for the use of team orders at the Russian Grand Prix, insisting it was solely the decision of Mercedes.

The moment in Sochi was one of the most divisive of the 2018 season as the Briton was ushered in front of teammate Valtteri Bottas amid the close presence of championship rival Sebastian Vettel.

While most understood the reasoning for the call, it left a sour taste with Hamilton himself making an admission in an interview on the Mercedes website.

"I really hope that there’s never a scenario like this again," the five-time Formula 1 champion said.

Hamilton went on to explain the context which led to the events in Russia.

“By this point in the year the team were like, ‘we’re going to do everything to make sure, Lewis is now so far ahead you can’t catch him so now we’ve got to start supporting him to make sure we tie up both championships’.

“Neither Valtteri nor I sit in the room saying we want cars reversed, we just want to go out there and earn the position and race for it."

The 33-year-old then revealed his own hesitancy when the decision was made by the Mercedes pit-wall. 

“Ultimately Valtteri was quicker that weekend and deserved to win," Lewis stated.

“But it was really awkward when I got the call that Valtteri was going to let me by, I can’t remember exactly, I think I said something like ‘just tell him to speed up’.

“I think in the race I was quicker, in qualifying he was quicker.”

Also Read:

• Watching Bottas give up Sochi win 'broke my heart', says Toto Wolff
• Hamilton: Bottas relationship as teammates probably the best ever in F1
• Mercedes suggest Sochi loss was a 'mental setback' for Bottas

The disappointment was clear post-race with the muted celebrations in parc ferme and the podium.

“Coming across the line I’m very conflicted because if I think with my heart then I would have had it the other way but in life and in competition you’ve got to seize the moment, you’ve got to take it as it comes and you’ve got to seize it when you have the opportunity," Hamilton conceded.

“If you put your feelings first you might not come out where you planned if that makes sense.

“The team had taken the decision and even though I really wanted, the whole rest of that race, you just let him back by, I took the decision to stick with what the team had chosen to do.

“It was the right decision to make but ultimately, we didn’t need to have that day but I think it was an important day in the sense of how we come together."

Lawrence Stroll has set out his goals for the future of the renamed Racing Point F1 team.

As the future of the Force India outfit became less certain, the Canadian fashion mogul emerged as the man set to save the Silverstone squad from demise, doing so after the company entered administration in July.

While many saw Stroll's takeover as a way of ensuring his son Lance remained on the Formula 1 grid, despite being quite secure at Williams, Lawrence revealed his real reasons for stepping in.

"I looked at it as a business opportunity, coupling that with spending time speaking to F1 bosses to understand their vision from 2021, which is some sort of budget cap and some sort of better revenue distribution to the smaller teams," he said to Formula1.com.

"That makes great business sense for a company like this, as this is the model of direction closer to where the future will go.

"I've been around the sport for 30 years. There are only 10 teams and if you look at the value of the franchise, whether it be NFL, UK rugby or football, the value of an asset like this, treated properly, cherished over time significantly appreciates.

"I think the same thing will happen here."

Also Read:

• Racing Point reveal their main priority was keeping staff during administration
• Racing Point to reveal new name & 2019 car in Toronto
• Perez: Force India can challenge top three teams with Stroll investment

Known for punching above their weight, given the resources they had, Force India would have finished fifth in last year's Constructors' Championship had their points not being wiped after the Racing Point entry was made prior to the Belgian Grand Prix.

Now with the funds to push on and develop even further, Stroll does have high expectations of what the team, which will have its permanent name revealed next month, can achieve.

"Short-term, we want to stay fighting where we are. Medium-term, we want to try and fight for third, instead of fourth and long-term, when all the rules change, hopefully, we will be one of the greatest teams in the paddock," he declared.

This season Lance Stroll will race alongside Sergio Perez, however, it is the leadership of team boss Otmar Szafnauer and technical director Andrew Green that Stroll Sr. will look to back.

"[The team] already has great leadership and management, they have been doing this for a long time and doing a great job," he noted.

"So, it's about supporting them. It's about putting financial stability in place."

George Russell believes Williams was put under pressure to sign him after McLaren had promoted Lando Norris to a race seat for 2019.

The two British starlets battled it out for the Formula 2 championship last year with Russell's greater consistency seeing him dominate the standings ahead of Norris and Alexander Albon, who also joins F1 this year with Toro Rosso.

With the advantage he had, eventually securing the title in Abu Dhabi, the Mercedes junior thinks that gave Williams little choice but to offer him his first chance in F1.

“Lando’s announcement so early [coming in September] helped me to push Williams for my drive because I was ahead of him in the championship," he told Crash.net.

“McLaren believed he was worthy of a Formula 1 seat, so it showed there was some great signs for myself.

“It also probably added more pressure for Williams to say we’ve got to go with George because he’s the guy who is winning F2.”

Also Read:

• Russell can make the same impact in F1 as Leclerc, Williams say
• Russell 'ready for the challenge' of F1 with Williams
• McLaren won't jump to early conclusions about Lando Norris

Both Russell and Norris face tough tasks in their rookie seasons, trying to help two of F1's most historic teams recover from a dismal 2018.

For Russell, in particular, he arrives at a Williams team that scored just seven points last season but he is confident some progress can be made alongside Robert Kubica.

“I think our targets next season are very clear, and that’s to get Williams back to fighting into the points and the top of the midfield,” he claimed.

“I think we want to be recognised, we want to be putting in good results. If I’m beating my team-mate but it’s for last position, there is no joy or glory for anybody.”

Robert Kubica has admitted choosing Williams over a development driver role at Ferrari in 2019 was "not easy".

Just as the speculation began to pick up that the Pole was favourite to land the race seat with the Grove-based squad, it emerged he had been offered a position replacing Daniil Kvyat and Antonio Giovinazzi behind the scenes at the Scuderia.

The deal put forward was also reportedly longer than the one year he has with Williams but ultimately, one key factor was crucial in Kubica's decision.

"I had some opportunity which I think was very interesting and it was not easy to say no," he told Autosport.

"In the end, I am a racing driver - even though I haven't been racing for quite a long time - and this racing mentality has won out.

"I'm happy to have made this decision because it is a big challenge."

Looking ahead to this upcoming season, Kubica is proud to have achieved his goal of returning and is keen to see how it plays out.

"It's not easy to become an F1 driver: it's not easy to convince people you can do it and establish yourself in an F1 paddock," he explained.

"You have to have a lot of drive to do it because I went through this 12 years ago, and in the end, I said I think I have the energy to do it again.

"I'm not worried or scared of this challenge and I think I can make it work.

"I have a great opportunity and it is a happy ending to the long journey I have been on."

Also Read:

• Kubica puts expectations in check ahead of Williams return
• Kubica responds after Vettel questions his F1 return

The 34-year-old then ended by talking about some of the differences he'll face in transitioning from a test driver role to that of a racer.

"When I was driving the car I had to keep in mind that I have to give quality information and feedback and that I'm able to deliver good pace and not risk anything," Kubica said.

"I have to change this approach a bit because now I have to work more for a team, as I was, but now also for myself.

"I need to focus on different things which might be useful when I am racing. It's a bit of a different approach."

Current Formula E world champion Jean-Eric Vergne does see the possibility for a future merger between the all-electric series and Formula 1.

Now in its fifth season, Formula E has quickly become a destination of choice for carmakers with names like Audi, Nissan, BMW and Jaguar currently taking part with Porsche and Mercedes joining from Season 6.

With the continued rapid development of electric vehicles, Vergne does see a time when F1 will have to consider the prospect of working with Formula E.

“In the future, 2030 or something like that, there will only be electric cars or cars with new technology, we will not be running petrol or gasoline engines and the like," he told RaceFans at the FIA Gala.

“Formula 1 will have to completely change its mentality in the field of electricity, but again, it’s not up to me to decide, F1 is F1 and I think it will always be F1.

Also Read:

• Villeneuve dismissive of Formula E: Nobody in F1 knows when it's on!

“It’s the most important series in motorsport history and I always think that will be the case, but Formula E is a bit different and in my opinion, it does not compete with F1," the Frenchman noted.

"I sometimes hear that the two classes might fuse one day, which I would like to have, as you keep on doing the best of the Formula 1 and the Formula E. That would be nice.”

With more F1 drivers and figures showing interest in Formula E, while right now it would be like "merging Renault Clio Cup with NASCAR", as one RaceFans commenter put it, perhaps some point in the not-too-distant future the world may end up enjoying 'Formula on-E'.

Nico Hulkenberg is hoping Daniel Ricciardo will reveal useful Red Bull information to help Renault progress in 2019.

The French manufacturer faces an important year ahead after failing to close the gap to the top three teams last year and barely beating Haas and Force India to fourth in the Constructors' standings.

Their future potential, however, was still enough to attract Ricciardo on a two-year deal and his arrival is very much welcomed by his new German teammate.

“He will bring a breath of fresh air and certainly have some information from Red Bull for us,” Hulkenberg told Auto Motor und Sport.

“As drivers, we’re not engineers and certainly not aerodynamicists, he cannot tell us how to make the bargeboards, but he could help us by explaining what Red Bull did with various systems or on setting up the car and that will be interesting for sure.”

Also Read:

• Webber warns Ricciardo over Renault attitude towards achieving success
• Renault: Honda still behind us and Red Bull 'hiding the facts'
• Ricciardo: Taking Renault to the 'next level' is main aim in 2019

Meanwhile, Renault Formula 1 chief Cyril Abiteboul has revealed the team is on course to make major gains in all areas this season based on numbers from the simulations.

"What I see is an acceleration everywhere," he said to Autosport. "The gains that we will be making on the engine are much bigger than we have ever done in a winter - much bigger - and the gains that we are currently doing in the windtunnel are much bigger than we have ever done.

"But, we have to be careful on the windtunnel side, the aero side, as there is a change of regulation [primarily concerning front wings]. You know that when it happens there is a big reset: you lose [downforce] and you quickly catch up.

"So, it is difficult to make a distinction between what is coming from the regulations and what is coming from the effect of the restructure [at Renault], but if I look at our capacity to engineer, to develop, design and manufacture, it is an acceleration everywhere."

McLaren CEO Zak Brown has told Formula 1 owners Liberty Media to push on with an overhaul of the regulations in 2021, regardless of opposition.

Talks have been ongoing for some time to agree a new Concorde Agreement which would come into effect in two years time, but the top manufacturers, Mercedes and Ferrari, are pushing back against some of the more radical ideas.

Changes to the engines have already been watered down and now the focus is shifting to the commercial aspect, with a budget cap and equal distribution of revenue part of Liberty's agenda.

“We know change in F1 is difficult and we also know F1 today is a broken model, both as a business and as an on-track product, that is going to need to be changed," Brown declared to Autosport.

“Those that are winning today will obviously feel the compromise about what is happening, and those are not winning today are going to like the plan.

“It was inevitable that Chase [Carey, F1 chairman] would bring forward a plan that some people like and some people don’t like. But, he needs to move forward with what he thinks is in the best interest of the sport."

Also Read:

• Mercedes/Ferrari relationship 'difficult' but 'very important' for F1
• Renault wants to win in F1 but only at a 'reasonable cost'
• McLaren calls for full implementation of a budget cap in 2021

The McLaren chief believes that if F1 continues on its current path then eventually "everyone loses" and therefore it should be in all teams' interest to take a long-term view rather focus on interim compromises.

Brown does believe, however, that there is a general consensus on the future direction of the sport and, after an initial draft of regulations was proposed last April in Bahrain, negotiations are now focused on the finer details.

“All that has really happened since [Bahrain] was drilling deeper – what is in the budget cap and what isn’t in the budget cap?" he explained.

“I know that not all the teams are aligned but I think a majority are. At McLaren, we are very supportive of what was presented in Bahrain and I think the sooner we can get that on the road to implementation the better.

“I believe Chase and [motorsport director] Ross Brawn are going to move forward on that basis," the American stated.

“Their view is ‘we presented it in Bahrain, we’ve been working together, we’ve been consistent on where we are going so this is what we are doing', but I think some people haven’t accepted that yet.”