Bottas admits German GP pole 'not up for grabs today'

Valtteri Bottas will carry the hopes of the Mercedes team with him tomorrow in the 2018 German Grand Prix when he will start from second place.

His team mate Lewis Hamilton has his work cut out to fight back from 14th on the grid after suffering a hydraulic issue during Saturday's qualifying session.

But Bottas rose to the occasion and took a front row spot alongside pole sitter Sebastian Vettel. Initially it looked like his time might even be good enough for pole, until the Ferrari's final lap found an extra two tenths on the Mercedes.

"It felt like a good lap, especially in the last sector," Bottas said. "But I don't think pole was up for grabs for us today.

"I gave it all, but unfortunately they were a bit too quick," he admitted. "Of course maybe we can speak about [finding a few] hundredths, but not a couple of tenths."

But while Ferrari had the edge in qualifying, Bottas remains optimistic that the Silver Arrows could be back on top on Sunday.

• Vettel takes German GP pole, Hamilton hit by hydraulic failure

"It is going to be very close between us and them tomorrow," he said. "The race start and the strategy will decide the outcome.

"We've been working on our starts and made good progress," he added. "I will focus on getting that one position back, and the race start could be the best option.

"We're starting on the same compound for this race so it's definitely going to be crucial. Race-pace wise I think we're going to be close.

"But the Ferraris have been producing really good starts this season," he acknowledged. "We'll find out if we have closed the gap.

"For us at Mercedes, Hockenheim is a home race, so I will give it my best tomorrow."

Bottas also expected his team mate to make an appearance toward the front at some point in the race.

"[Lewis] will try and get as far up as possible," he said. "We've seen in the previous races that he's capable of that."

Even so, Hamilton's early exit had certainly taken its toll on the team's spirits.

"That was a tough qualifying session for us today," said Mercedes principal Toto Wolff. "We were fighting with one hand tied behind our backs after losing Lewis' car so early in the session.

"For Valtteri, it was a mega final lap that put him on provisional pole," he continued. "Especially in the third sector, where he was fastest of everybody by a big margin.

"But Sebastian and Ferrari were just that bit stronger than us today. They were particularly strong in the middle sector.

"It's clear they have found a lot of power in the last races," he conceded. "We need to catch up.

"It will be a challenging race tomorrow," Wolff predicted. "We saw very close matched long runs from everybody in practice yesterday.

"The conditions will be cooler, so it will be interesting to see if and how that changes the competitive order."

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