Valtteri Bottas and his much-improved Williams team are keeping their feet firmly on the ground this weekend as they assess their ambitions for the final six races of the season, starting with Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix.
The 25-year-old Finn, who has emerged alongside Australian Daniel Ricciardo as one of the two most obvious big stars of the future for Formula One, said Williams' target was to finish in the top three in the constructors' championship - ahead of Ferrari.
He said dreams of overhauling Red Bull for second placed were not paramount in their thinking as they preferred to concentrate on taking one step at a time as Williams is rehabilitated as one of the front-runners in the sport.
Williams regained third ahead of Ferrari when they out-performed them on their home Italian soil at Monza two weeks ago, the British team finishing third and fourth while Ferrari's only finisher was Finn Kimi Raikkonen in ninth.
That performance from the talented and rapidly-improving Bottas and his senior team-mate Brazilian Felipe Massa came soon after the team had announced both men had signed extended contracts to stay.
"For us, the priority is to try to beat Ferrari, but you never know, anything can happen," said Bottas. "All we are going to do is focus on getting the maximum points for the team.
"If it's enough to catch Red Bull then it is, but that could be more difficult. We know they have some tracks to come where they are going to be really, really strong."
Red Bull have a 93-point lead on Williams after the Italian Grand Prix while Williams lead Ferrari by 15 points.
After securing four podium finishes in the last six races, Bottas is keen for more and believes he has a good chance on at least three of the final six circuits.
He added: "Singapore and maybe Brazil could be difficult ones for us, but I think there are some good ones to come as well so we shall see.
"We are still aiming to bring some updates later in the season, so Suzuka, Austin and Abu Dhabi, for example, can be tracks where I think we can fight for the podium definitely."
Source: AFP
