I'm definitely in title fight - Bottas

Valtteri Bottas believes he is "definitely" in the championship fight after securing victory in the Austrian Grand Prix.

Starting on pole position, Bottas retained the lead with what he described as "the start of my life" and dominated the first part of the race. However, a slow pit stop and blistering on his left-rear tire saw the Finn under pressure from Sebastian Vettel in the closing stages, eventually holding on for his second victory in Formula 1.

Closing to within 15 points of teammate Lewis Hamilton and 35 of the championship lead, Bottas says he is in the battle for the title this year.

"You know it's still a long year ahead," Bottas said. "This makes good for the points, but it's still early days and we're still developing as a team.

"Yeah, we're not even in the halfway of the year, so definitely I believe [I'm a championship contender] and the team believes. Like I said, we are still developing. I'm just loving every moment and it's going to be good."

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Asked if was concerned he could receive a penalty for jumping the start – with the stewards noting his getaway but not investigating after it registered as a 0.201s reaction time – Bottas replied: "No, when the car was moving the lights were off, so that is the main thing.

"It was probably one of my best starts, maybe even if it was risky. But there's not much more to gain in the start and I knew I had to make a good one."

Explaining how he managed to get such a good start, Bottas admitted there is an element of anticipation involved as he had noticed the time the five red lights stay on has been similar for a number of races.

"The start light, there's obviously different variations from when the start lines come on and when they go off, but the variation for quite a long time has not been massive. So you know more or less when the zone is that it's going to be off. You are so alert at that point you are gambling between your reaction and guessing. Sometimes you get [it right], sometimes you are a bit too late and today was my best reaction for the lights.

"It is as long as it's positive that it's fine, so all good."