Second in Chinese GP possible before 'amateur' spin, Bottas says

Bottas held his third place from qualifying off the line, gained second when Sebastian Vettel pitted for slicks early but fell to fifth due to a rear jack problem at his own stop.

He then dropped to 12th when he lost control under safety-car conditions while trying to keep his slick tyres up to temperature.

He recovered to sixth but felt beating Vettel's Ferrari - which was behind him just before his spin - to second should have been achievable given Mercedes' race pace.

"I think definitely there was a chance to fight for a one-two," said Bottas.

"I felt we were just slightly quicker than Ferrari, so that could have been possible.

"I think we did a better job in terms of understanding the tyres for Sunday, but also the conditions were very different."

Bottas described his spin as "amateur" on team radio and apologised again afterwards.

"I definitely apologised to everyone. Silly mistake..." he said.

"I guess this happens but it's still pretty shit when it happens to you.

"But the main thing is not to do it again. And I'm glad Bahrain is in one week.

"The worst thing to do now is to not stop thinking about that mistake.

"I need to understand how I can prevent it in the future and just need to move on.

"I know the pace is there, I can do very good things with the car and I think as a team we did a stronger job in terms of car pace than what we had on Sunday in Melbourne.

"We just need to keep going and the results will come."

He expects another close battle with Ferrari in Bahrain, but that form so far may not mean much in the warmer Sakhir conditions.

"Bahrain will be much hotter, so it's going to be another test and we'll see how we compare to Ferrari," Bottas said.

"It seems to be very, very close, depending on conditions in the sessions."