Williams F1's Valtteri Bottas resigned to career of back exercises

The Finn sat out the Australian Grand Prix after suffering what Williams described as "a small tear in the annular part of a disc" but returned to F1 in Malaysia having made changes to the position of the car's pedal and seat.

While Bottas said he does not feel any pain now, he has a series of exercises which he will do while he remains in Formula 1.

"I'm still doing specific exercises for my lower back and those muscles three or four times a week," Bottas told AUTOSPORT.

"I think I'm going to continue that all my career just to make sure it's not going to happen again. "

Since the injury, Bottas has gone on to score points in seven of the last nine races to sit fourth in the championship, one point clear of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.

When asked if he felt he had been playing catch-up after missing the season opener, Bottas said: "Maybe a little bit.

"I think that on the first qualifying after that, for the first week, for sure you are not 100 per cent," he said.

"You're upset you missed the race, all the time you're aware of if the back is going to hold on or not, so it doesn't make things easy.

"But I think after that it's been ok, you know lately no problems."