Although he missed out on pole by a tenth and a bit in qualifying for the 2021 Spanish Grand Prix, Valtteri Bottas is expecting a good fight in the race and fancies his chances.
It was nip and tuck, only 0.132s separating the fastest trio, with Bottas set to start immediately behind his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton on the grid for tomorrow's Grand Prix at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Speaking in parc ferme immediately after the session, Bottas said: "That was close. Definitely was in the battle for the pole and I think the first runs in Q3 were faster ones but in Turn 10, I had snap at the apex and lost a tenth or so, and that's the margins of the pole.
"With a strong package, it's going to be a good fight tomorrow, no doubt. I think it'll be close between us and Red Bull. I think there are possibilities to do one-stop or two-stop, but I'm not going to reveal ours!"
Bottas later added in the team report: "If you can keep the tyres in good condition, you're going to be more competitive around the pit stops."
Sunday is an important race for Bottas as pressure mounts to have him axed and replaced by Williams driver George Russell, thus he will be looking to bring home a solid result, opening his 2021 victory 'account' would be a step in the right direction.
Last year Bottas started second on the grid and finished third behind race winner Hamilton and Verstappen. Tomorrow, on the occasion of his 162nd Grand Prix start the Finn will want to reverse that result at a venue where three times he has been on the podium but never on the top step.
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