Valtteri Bottas qualified second, making sure Mercedes locked out the front row at the very last race of the season. The Finn did not manage to match Lewis Hamilton's laptime but performed at a high level and could consider himself very satisfied with today's result, on which he could build for the race.

"A great performance from the team - it's impressive to see that even though we've secured the constructors' title in Brazil, everyone is still performing on a really high level, everyone's still happy to be here and really motivated. I was hoping for pole today, but I think Lewis did another exceptional qualifying and I didn't quite find enough time in Q3."

Bottas insisted he still had more performance upon his sleeves, but in the end his teammate Lewis turned out to the be better man on the track. "I knew that there was room for improvement left after my first run in Q3 and both Lewis and I found some time, but he just managed to get a more complete lap together. However, I'm happy that I got a decent lap in Q3 and that we were able to secure a well-earned front row lockout for the team."

As for the race, the contention with the other two top teams is going to be tight but Bottas sees an opportunity at the start, which -as both championship are already decided- could favour him. "Our pace looked good, but it is extremely close with Ferrari and Red Bull, so we'll have to wait and see what happens in the race tomorrow. There are always opportunities in the race to get ahead, so I will be waiting for my chance and hopefully come in first".