MY FIRST POLE
V
altteri Bottas upstaged his
Mercedes teammate Lewis
Hamilton by grabbing pole
position on Saturday, but then said he
is not dreaming of a maiden victory in
Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix.
The 26-year-old Finn, who has
replaced retired 2016 world champion
Nico Rosberg as teammate to the
three-time world champion Briton,
remained phlegmatic and practical
after a close floodlit qualifying session.
“We need to enjoy it for a short
period of time, to enjoy what you’ve
done, but the main thing is the race,”
said Bottas.
“But there’s no point to start
dreaming. We need to look at
everything we can, work as a team
and plan a good strategy for the race.
We need to focus for the race and get
the maximum out of it.
“But definitely it’s a good place to
start and I think, as a team, we can be
really strong in the race and hopefully
get a one-two – the first one for the
year.”
Bottas was congratulated warmly
by Hamilton after wrecking the
Englishman’s hopes of a hat-trick of
season-opening poles and a seventh
in succession.
Hamilton currently shares the
leadership in the drivers’ title race with
four-time champion Sebastian Vettel of
Ferrari, who qualified third behind the
two Mercedes men.