World champion Nico Rosberg says he is looking forward to seeing a "great battle" between Mercedes’ new driving duo in 2017.
After an eleventh hour scrabble to replace Rosberg after the German sensationally quit Mercedes and F1, the team announced this week that Lewis Hamilton’s new teammate will be Williams driver Valtteri Bottas.
"I was hoping the team would quickly find a perfect successor for me," DPA news agency quotes Rosberg as saying at a sponsor event.
"Valtteri is fast and reliable," he is also quoted as saying by Bild newspaper, "and now he has the best cockpit in formula one, so I hope he’ll have fun.
"I’m glad the team has found a great replacement in such a short time," Rosberg added.
Finn Bottas, 27, said this week that he is ready to take on triple world champion Hamilton in 2017, but the Briton and Rosberg clashed at times over the past few years.
"Good luck for the fight with Lewis," Rosberg smiled. "It will surely be an interesting battle.
"I’m curious to see what he will achieve, and how he will do with Lewis."