Bottas: The main objective remains the race;
Valtteri Bottas took his first pole position at Sakhir yesterday. But the Finn intends to convert this first test into his first victory today, for the race.
It had been since the 2008 British Grand Prix with Heikki Kovalainen that a Finnish driver hadn’t started from pole position.
It took until the 2017 season for Valtteri Bottas to finally silence this unfortunate statistic: I hadn’t realized it had been almost 10 years since a Finn started from pole position. I have always been proud to drive for Finland and to represent my country. I am very happy with this first pole position. It’s my fifth season in Formula 1 now, and it took me a number of Grand Prix to get there.
The Mercedes driver does not intend to stop there, behind the wheel of one of the best cars on the grid and is indeed aiming for victory this afternoon: « The main objective remains the race. There are no reasons to dream at the moment. We simply need to give our best in the race now. As a team, we can be very strong. »
Bottas therefore expects a fierce battle with his teammate: « It’s great that we are both starting from the front row tomorrow. We did a really good job focusing on the late afternoon conditions and maximizing lap time in the car. »
