0.001s gap to Vettel in China qualifying frustrates Bottas
Find out how the 2017 Chinese Grand Prix grid lines up - CLICK HERE
Valtteri Bottas was left frustrated after falling just 0.001 seconds short of a front-row berth for Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix and matching his best qualifying result in Formula 1.
After seeing Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton charge to his sixth straight pole position, Bottas was left to settle for third on the grid for the second race in a row, 0.187 seconds off the pace.
The tighter gap was that to second-placed Sebastian Vettel, whose lap was just 0.001 seconds faster than Bottas' - equivalent to just 5.91 centimetres - leaving the Finn frustrated.
"One-thousandth is not much," Bottas said. "A real shame he managed to get between us. That's a shame, but again, the race is tomorrow.
"We are starting as a team first and third, it's a good place to start. The weather can be anything really tomorrow. Lewis was strong today, Ferrari was strong and we were always expecting a close fight today on-track.
"I think it will be the same case tomorrow, but yeah, really thankful to the team again, great job in a short amount of time in practice today to get the car setup well. It was enjoyable to drive. Let's see what tomorrow brings."
Bottas added that he was feeling more at ease heading into Sunday's race in China than his Mercedes debut in Australia two weeks ago, gaining confidence with every lap he completes.
"Approaching this weekend compared to Melbourne, the first round of the year, it was different feeling," Bottas said. "Having an F1 full race weekend with the team then the qualifying session then the race then the podium finish it was a nice start, so definitely feeling more and more comfortable.
"[I'm] still not satisfied, I think we mentioned that there is a big learning curve for me with everything. I feel better and better every single day with the team and every single lap with the car."
Latest Tweets from Crash.net & GPF1rst
