Valtteri Bottas was naturally disappointed to miss out on the top ten shootout for a second consecutive weekend in Japan on Saturday, but is aiming to make gains like he did a week ago in Malaysia.
The Williams Martini Racing driver will have a free choice of tyre ahead of the race on Sunday, and having climbed from the same position on the grid in Malaysia to finish fifth, Bottas is hopeful of more of the same in Japan.
Bottas admitted the team were just not quick enough on Saturday, and having qualified third on the grid in both 2014 and 2015 at the Suzuka International Racing Course, was disappointed not to make it through to Q3 in 2016.
“Looking at our qualifying performance here from the past few years it’s disappointing not to be in Q3,” admitted Bottas. “We just weren’t quick enough today. I had a little bit of traffic in Q2, but the speed just wasn’t there.
“The positive thing from today is that we have a free choice of tyres for the race. We have the same opportunity that we had in Malaysia to do something different with the strategy, hopefully we can make good use of that.”
