Bottas laughs at end of record: 'Now start again from scratch'

Valtteri Bottas in Q3 was a certainty for years. No matter what happened, the Finn always finished in the last block of qualifying. Until this season, he managed it 101 times in a row.

With his switch from Mercedes to Alfa Romeo, it would be no surprise if that long series came to an end. Yet during the first two races of the season Bottas continued his series nicely. But in Melbourne it came to an end after all. Bottas stranded in Q2 and will start Sunday from place 12.

On Twitter, Bottas himself referred to the end of his unique series. "It was a good run… but now need to start it all over again", the Finn wrote in his Tweet.

In the first races, Bottas showed with the Alfa Romeo that he has a car that can handle the fight in the midfield. The only problem is the reliability. On several occasions - in practice and the race - the Alfa Romeo has struggled with defects.