Bottas: Mercedes W10 better now than winter

Mark Scott
Valtteri Bottas has blamed the start/finish line for his poor getaway at the Chinese GP.

Valtteri Bottas has blamed the start/finish line for his poor getaway at the Chinese GP.

Valtteri Bottas has offered a different side to the story compared to Lewis Hamilton following Friday practice in Spain.

Bottas topped both sessions at the Circuit de Catalunya ahead of final practice and qualifying on Saturday as he looks to try and extend his lead at the top of the World Championship standings.

While Hamilton said that he preferred driving the Mercedes W10 in winter testing at the same track compared to practice on Friday, Bottas had the exact opposite opinion.

“It really felt good today,” Bottas said.

“Our cornering performance has improved, a whole lot different feeling from winter testing with the car, so that’s nice to feel and see.

“The balance around the lap is a lot more together so we’ve definitely gone in the right direction since testing and we also feel our downforce level is better.

“That’s good news but in the end it’s only Friday and Ferrari is not that far behind… we have to see tomorrow in qualifying when Ferrari turns their new power unit up how they are going to be.”

Follow all the action from the Spanish Grand Prix with the PlanetF1 live centre