Valtteri Bottas still believes that he can have a good race on Sunday despite being forced to settle for third on the grid behind the two Scuderia Ferrari drivers during qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix on Saturday.
The Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team driver was only 0.045 seconds behind pole sitter Kimi Raikkonen during the session, and only 0.002 seconds behind Sebastian Vettel, with the Finn admitting he was disappointed not to be at least on the front row of the grid.
Bottas says Mercedes having been struggling with set-up so far this weekend but knows anything can happen around the streets of Monte Carlo, and he still believes he can move forward and clinch his second victory of the season on Sunday.
“This weekend has been a bit tricky for us,” admitted Bottas. “We started well in FP1 before getting a bit lost with the set-up in FP2. Then it was difficult to get a lap together in Qualifying as well.
“It takes two to three laps to build the temperature up and find the right balance and feel for the car. It was very close today but Ferrari seems to have the upper hand here – they were very strong this afternoon.
“Of course it would be nice to start on the front row but anything is possible from P3 on the grid. It’s difficult to overtake here but it’s definitely a race of opportunity. Tomorrow is Monaco, where anything can happen.”
