Hamilton happy for Bottas after qualifying shock

Lewis Hamilton remained upbeat, despite being outqualified by Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas at the Russian Grand Prix. Hamilton had looked a cert for pole, but Bottas stepped up in Q3 to snatch the top spot on the grid by a tenth of a second – his second pole position of 2018.

Bottas has never been outqualified by a team-mate at the Sochi Autodrom and secured a maiden race win here last year from third on the grid.

Hamilton has won two of the previous four races in Sochi and has looked the man to beat all weekend.

Straight over to see the boys! ???? #RussianGP ???????? #F1 pic.twitter.com/MKifKlODgn — Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) September 29, 2018

And with title rival Sebastian Vettel struggling to keep pace with the Silver Arrows, Hamilton will be confident of extending his 40-point lead over the Ferrari man on Sunday.

"Firstly a big congratulations to Valtteri, he's been driving well this weekend and he just did a better job," Hamilton said.

"The track is great, and the weather is good, it was intense, naturally, as it always is. My last two laps of Q3 weren't special at all, you can't always get it right - but we're still in contention for the race tomorrow.

"We rely fully on the team, the guys at the factory and here all do an impeccable job. It's motivating to see the upgrades come and the evolution on the car and see the changes."

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