Valtteri Bottas felt it was “a good result” considering the troubles his Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport team have had at the Baku Street Circuit as he qualified third for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
The Finnish driver was much happier with the set-up of his car on Saturday and said it allowed him to trust his Mercedes.
“It’s never positive to be third, but after yesterday this is a good result,” said Bottas. “The team did a great job with the set-up of the car.
“It felt completely different compared to yesterday; we could really trust it which allowed us to fight for the first and second row.”
Bottas was disappointed he was unable to get a perfect lap in but believes the team are in a good position to fight the Scuderia Ferrari’s and Aston Martin Red Bull Racing cars.
“It felt like I never did a perfect lap today and I doubt that anyone else did; it’s just extremely difficult around the track. For the race, we’re in a good position as a team,” said the Finn. “Having both cars next to each other for the race start gives us a few opportunities and we can play with tactics.
“It’s difficult to say how the wind tomorrow is going to affect the race, especially with all the buildings around. It should be an interesting race. We expect it to be very close tomorrow between three teams, so everything is possible.”
