While his reaction to Valtteri Bottas' Q1 qualifying crash was caught by the TV cameras in all its glory, banging his fist and mouthing the F-word (and it wasn't Ferrari), Toto Wolff insists he will not exert added pressure on his Finnish driver ahead of tomorrow's race.

"This is a moment where you could start to question yourself," said the Austrian. "This in race one is not good for the psychology of the drivers.

"We're trying to give him all the support we can," he added, "and obviously it’s very early days for our team championship. Starting P15 in Melbourne is obviously not an easy starting position."

Asked how he might assist Bottas, who is on a one-year deal with the German team having failed to regularly convince in his debut season, Wolff replied: "Just show understanding for the situation, and not on the contrary increase the pressure.

"My reaction with the F-word was probably about the psychological effect it could have on Valtteri," he smiled.

"Honestly it’s not too bad," said Bottas. "Initially it was very disappointing, but I'm already looking forward to the race.

"It's one mistake," he continued, "and it can happen anywhere. Sometimes you get away with it, this time I didn't. Everybody makes mistakes so there's no big word inside my head. I'm now just looking forward to tomorrow. In the next qualifying I'll go flat out again and take risks."

Teammate Lewis Hamilton empathised with the Finn.

"I know how hard Valtteri's been working and so I know how difficult and the pain he'll feel right now but he will recover for sure," said the Briton, "he was very quick through practice and he's been putting a lot of effort into growing as a driver and as a member of the team.

"Definitely unfortunate but I have all the confidence in him to pull through again tomorrow quite quickly."

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