Bottas beats Verstappen to pole position: "The start was the key"

Valtteri Bottas went for an aggressive start to the sprint qualifying race in Brazil and overtook Verstappen at the first corner. The Mercedes driver started on the soft tyres and made them last throughout the 24 lap race. Bottas takes home three points for his efforts and gets pole position in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. 

In the post-race interviews, Bottas spoke about the gamble the team made with the soft tyres and the challenge of making them last throughout the 100km dash in Brazil. 

"The start was the key thing to get a good start. We gambled with the soft tyres. We knew it would benefit the start and it worked. It was all about trying to survive to the end but I'm glad it worked out perfectly," Bottas said in a conversation with Felipe Massa. 

Mercedes

Bottas' drive brought smiles to Toto Wolff and the Mercedes team. He managed to stop Verstappen from getting the full three points and the P1 start in the race. Hamilton also worked his way through the field to P5 so he will start from 10th with his five-place penalty for a new ICE.