Bottas praises Hamilton after missing out on pole

You have to feel a little bit sorry for Valtteri Bottas. He put in one heck of a lap to take provisional pole but saw his team mate Lewis Hamilton edge him out at the last moment, meaning the Finn will have to settle for second rather than pole.

Bottas, who endured a torrid year in 2018, will want to have a good year in 2019 to earn himself a contract renewal and he gave it a brilliant go at Albert Park, agonizingly missing out.

In an interview with Sky Sports after the session, Bottas praised his team mate, saying: "We really made some good progress, I had a difficult practice three and we turned things around for the qualifying.

"The Q3 lap one was really good, I enjoyed that. Fortunately it wasn't enough for pole but Lewis did a great job at the end and I struggled a bit in the first sector on the second run.

"Anyway, it was fun and I look forward to tomorrow."