Speaking at the start of the Brazil weekend, Valtteri Bottas says that although he believes 2019 to be his best season yet, he is aware that there remains room for improvement.

Asked whether he might take a leaf out of his predecessor, Nico Rosberg's, book, and get into Lewis Hamilton's mind, the Finn said he prefers to do his fighting on track.

"I'll always have plans of finding different ways of how I want to achieve my goal, which is to win the championship," the COTA-winner told reporters. "That requires beating my team-mate and also other drivers.

"I will always prefer to do the talking on track," he continued. "If I can focus on my performance and keep all the energy that I have into my own performance I think that is going to be the best bet for me.

"If I start wasting energy elsewhere it might take my mind off the driving and what really matters," he added. "If I can perform at the level I want to then normally that tends to upset the other side of the garage a little bit.

"I know from being on the other side of that as well that it can lead you to mistakes and so on," he admitted, before adding, in almost true Baldrick fashion. "I have a plan for next year but I'm not willing to share it, so we'll find out."

In terms of where he might improve, he said: "I still need a bit more consistency and fewer mistakes but it gives a good feeling and confidence for the future.

"I'm now really starting to see the work that we've been doing with the engineers and what I've been doing with myself and driving-wise. I've been able to target many of the weaknesses that I've had and been able to improve my pace in different circumstances quite a lot, so that's very satisfying to see. It makes you want more."

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