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A diet of vodka and porridge isn’t exactly your average sportsman’s fuel - but it’s obviously worked wonders for Valtteri Bottas.

The Finnish racer could not buy a win last season and finished fifth in the drivers’ championship as teammate Lewis Hamilton collected 11 on the way to his fifth title.

With young Frenchman Esteban Ocon waiting in the wings as Mercedes’ reserve driver, Bottas went into the off-season hounded by doubts and with speculation over the security of his race seat.

He passed the break getting drunk on vodka and beer with friends at home, growing a beard, taking a turn in a rally car and nurturing a new photography hobby.

(Image: Getty Images)

And, having qualified second for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, he then stunned his rivals with a commanding performance on Sunday.

Bottas got the jump on pole-sitter Hamilton at the start and roared to a dominant, 20-second-plus victory.

So surprising was his dominance in Melbourne, that podium interviewer Mark Webber asked: "What the hell did you have for breakfast?”

(Image: Getty Images)

“Porridge,” Bottas, whose victory Down Under was the fourth of his F1 career, replied.

He also hailed his triumph as the “greatest race” of his career, icing the cake by claiming a bonus point for registering the fastest lap.

While busy over the break, the Finn said he had found time to review everything about his preparations and brought a different mindset to Melbourne.

(Image: XPB Images/Press Association Images)

“Every year you learn as a person, you learn about yourself what works for you, what doesn’t in terms of preparation, which includes how you rest, how you spend your free time, how you do your training ... All sorts,” he said.

“So we were just trying to optimise everything again ... I don’t know, it’s quite difficult to explain what’s been going on in here over the last winter inside my head.

“Definitely something changed in terms of the way I feel about things. That’s all in my thoughts but I felt good in the car and that’s all that matters.”