Bottas happy: 'Ideal way to start weekend at new track'

Valtteri Bottas was the fastest man on track during the second free practice session for the Qatar Grand Prix. The Finn managed to beat Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton for the fastest time.

"The day started nicely with the setup up. Actually, the balance was pretty good in the first run and only minor tweaks were to be done in FP2. So, that is an ideal way to start a weekend on a new track. I think the team did a good job with the guestimation of the set-up," Bottas responded for the Sky Sports camera.

Promising weekend for Mercedes

During the first free practice Mercedes had to make do with third and fourth place, but the team seems to be on the right track now. Yet Bottas still sees room for improvement on the new track.

"Even with two sessions, we can't get the full speed that is available so we keep working. It is good practice, but it is practice and we try to learn as much as we could. The pace seems good. The feeling was okay and that is promising for the rest of the weekend," said the Finn.