Cooler conditions in Imola meant W12 like her predecessors was on full charge and in its comfort zone but this time comfort zone was only for the champion side of the garage as Lewis was able to secure pole but Valtteri Bottas his Finnish team-mate struggled throughout the Q3.

Bottas was comfortable up until the Q3 where the car changed drastically and he was having all kinds of troubles oversteer understeer cold tyres and you name it.

“Today was a little bit confusing and I don’t understand the Q3 performance yet. On the first run of Q3 I had oversteered and then the second run, the rear end was not so good. Not what I was aiming for today, especially with the feeling I had at the start of qualifying.” Said the Finnish in post Qualifying debrief.

For the Finn, qualifying started smoothly and looked comfortable but Q3 was a different story.

“Q3 first run I went into Turn 2 and I had a really sudden snap from the rear end and it really continued through sector 1 and I lost a lot of time. And actually, it was the same thing in run 2.

I couldn’t trust the rear end. That isn’t something I felt in Q1 or Q2 so it’s difficult to understand - we will have to investigate.”

The problem for Bottas at this track is different from the Bahrain GP where he was struggling with the rear end and now things are different.

“It was something different [to Bahrain],” Bottas added. “Now it was more in corner-entry, which I’ve never really had before.

“So yeah, we need to look first of all that everything was right with the car. It was not ideal.”

Bottas is aiming for a good race and good fight for tomorrow even though overtaking is very difficult at this track but he will try to squeeze the best out of his car.

“Overtaking here is difficult with a narrow track but I will fight to give it everything tomorrow.”

Points are scored on Sunday. We’ve got some hunting to do tomorrow, VB. 💪🐺 pic.twitter.com/3995NaafPa

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) April 17, 2021