Mercedes predicts fourth spot for Bottas: 'McLaren is too fast'

It will be exciting until the end in the championship between Red Bull Racing and Mercedes. After Sergio Perez's engine change at Zandvoort it is now Valtteri Bottas' turn at Monza.

During Q1 of qualifying today, word came from the FIA that Bottas will get his fourth engine. It was not a voluntary choice by Mercedes, reports Auto, Motor und Sport. "Mercedes' engineers discovered suspicious data at the end of the first practice session and therefore decided to remove the engine and replace it with a new unit," the website reads.

Chief engineer Andrew Shovlin already stated in a press release that Mercedes didn't have time to investigate the problem further. They did have enough time to replace the engine of the Finn. Bottas will start from first place in tomorrow's sprint race, the penalty will only be applied during the race on Sunday.

According to the Mercedes team, the Finn will still be able to finish fourth on Sunday, but a podium finish is unlikely. "He would have to pass both McLaren's and they are damn fast here."