Bottas: Small margins and tow key to Azerbaijan GP pole

Valtteri Bottas believes getting a vital tow during his final qualifying lap was vital to hand him pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix ahead of Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton.

In a repeat front row from the last race in China, Bottas will start from pole position for Mercedes thanks to his last Q3 lap of 1m 40.495s which saw him edge out Hamilton by just 0.059s.

Having overhauled a deficit to Ferrari, which expanded to almost 1.5s after FP3, Bottas feels he got his final run hooked up perfectly but the key was gaining a tow off the McLaren of Lando Norris directly in front of him in the run down the long Baku City Circuit straight.

“I am really happy for pole, it is a nice feeling to get it on the last lap,” Bottas said. “It was a nice last lap and like I said Ferrari have been really strong. Obviously Charles is out with a mistake but as a team we did a really good job to be where we are now after such a difficult practice.

“It is all about small margins and I did get a good tow on that last lap. Of course, the corners I have to drive as well. It is all about small details and I managed to hit the sweet spot.

“It was getting trickier and trickier and we are not supposed to race that late here but I got them to work somehow.”

It marks the Finn’s first pole position in Baku as he looks to complete unfinished business in Azerbaijan after cruelly being denied victory 12 months ago as he suffered a tyre puncture while leading with just a handful of laps to go.