Valtteri Bottas had a great chance for pole after being two and a half-tenths up on his final lap, but accidents happen in Q3, when the drivers are driving their hardest.

Bottas was happrier in the morning session with his car, as he was able to create confidence and his car seemed to be in a better window.

However, for both sides of the garage, it was a stressful day. Bottas was doing an excellent job and getting the most out of the car; he'd been consistent throughout the session and had gained a significant amount of time on his final run before the session was red flagged and he was unable to complete his lap. While Hamilton, had a more difficult time than Bottas in terms of building tyre temperature. 

Post-qualifying, Bottas comments, "On Thursday and even in practice this morning, I didn’t have the greatest feeling in the car - we were still struggling with the tyre warm-up and mechanically, the car just isn’t made for tracks like this. But I think we maximised everything set-up wise for Quali, we made some changes and I felt comfortable."

He continues, "As qualifying progressed, I saw that we had a chance for pole position so it’s a shame I never got to finish the last run - I guess we’ll never find out if it was enough but it was a good lap up until the red flag, I was a tenth or two up."

He concludes, "It is great to see many teams out there competing at the front, it’s exciting and we are all pushing so much on the track, trying to make every small gain we can. I am sure tomorrow will be a tight battle."

P3 and P7 aren't where the team feels they need to be, but race speed and deterioration will still be a part of tomorrow's race, and they have proven this year that they are good at it, so hopefully both drivers can take advantage of it.