Bottas thrilled with Mercedes wing, nose and floor updates

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Valtteri Bottas says the aerodynamic upgrades Mercedes have introduced to its W08 have made firm progress with its performance as he enjoys an impressive Friday practice and feels in the hunt for the top spot.

The Finnish driver ran aerodynamic tests for Mercedes on a modified front wing, nose and floor during the two sessions before focusing on an ideal set-up for his car at the Red Bull Ring.

Despite a couple of hairy off-track moments, while also suffering a small mistake during his fastest lap of the day, Bottas feels he's within reach of Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel ahead of him on the timesheet.

"We were evaluating all the new bits we had in the car today and it was interesting," Bottas said. "It was good to see we made progress with the car's aerodynamics, as any steps are welcome.

"I'm still playing around with the set-up of the car, trying to get it well balanced and it was a pretty straightforward day.

"The track is short, so the gaps are closer, of course, but it's good that we seem to be on the front end. The lap I had was definitively not a great one, there was more pace in there. I lost three or four tenths in the last sector, so the car felt definitively quick."

Bottas, who has reiterated his Formula 1 world title charge having closed the deficit to 42 points on Vettel thanks to his back-to-back second places, is solely focusing on pole position in Austria as he looks to take on Vettel and Hamilton who have largely dominated the sharp end in 2017.

"It's always nice to start from the front, it's the only goal," he said. "It seems to be that we have good pace this weekend and, for sure, personally, I'm going out there tomorrow to fight for pole position, like many other guys."