Valtteri Bottas felt disappointed that he could not have joined team-mate Felipe Massa inside the top ten during qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after failing to get the best out of the Ultrasoft tyre in Q2.
The Williams Martini Racing driver ultimately missed out on advancing by 0.040 seconds, feeling his FW38 worked better with the Supersoft rather than the supposed qualifying tyre, which cost him the chance of qualifying inside the top ten.
Bottas is hopeful that the race on Sunday provides opportunity to move forward, especially as the Finn will be the first of those with a free choice of tyre, and he is hopeful of ending the year with a finish in front of the Sahara Force India F1 Team.
“Obviously I would have liked to have been in Q3, but for some reason I couldn’t get any extra grip from the Ultrasoft tyre compared to the Supersoft,” said Bottas. “The car felt very good with the Supersoft tyre, but I don’t feel like we got the most out of the qualifying tyre.
“However, tomorrow is a different game. P11 gives me a free choice of tyres for the race, so that can open up opportunities. Lately, Force India have been finishing races ahead of us so it would be nice to end the season with a good result for the whole team and for Felipe.”
