F1 | Mercedes, Bottas disappointed: "I fought with the rear throughout qualifying"

It was a disappointing qualifying for Valtteri Bottas in Sochi. The Finn, who has always been competitive in Russia, was unable to go beyond fifth position, and due to the penalty imposed on Verstappen he will start on the second row next to Vettel. We expected something more from the former Williams, who with a good start and a different strategy compared to his rivals will still be able to have his say in the race tomorrow.

“Today was a complicated qualifying for me – Bottas admitted. I was struggling with the car in the last sector, especially in turn 13, where the rear danced on practically every lap in qualifying. This caused the tires to overheat, which made it difficult to ride the last stretch, I wasn't able to get around the problem. In the second attempt of Q3 this problem was quite significant and I lost a lot of tenths, so I aborted the lap. The Ferraris are a little faster than us on the straight, but our race pace looked good yesterday, and by starting with a different tire to the others we hope to create some opportunities. There's still everything to play for."