Buoyant Bottas believes he's ready to 'beat everyone'

TURIN, Italy - Last season's Formula One campaign was so demoralizing for Valtteri Bottas that he got drunk to forget all about it.

Bottas didn't win a single race in 2018 despite driving for the dominant Mercedes team. But having pressed the reset button over the winter break, the Finnish driver believes he can be a genuine challenger for the F1 title this season.

"I got to Finland, got properly smashed a few times, did anything I wanted to do basically," Bottas said at an event for Mercedes' sponsors in Turin last weekend.