Bottas facing race of survival after wrong set-up call

Valtteri Bottas has revealed he is hoping for a dry Belgian Grand Prix after locking in a set-up that "wasn't really for the wet".

The Finn has carried a five-place grid penalty into the weekend for his role in the Hungarian GP first corner meleé before the summer break and therefore set his Mercedes up with race performance the predominant focus.

But Bottas could only finish eighth in the session and explained afterwards that the treacherous conditions worked against him.

"Definitely, the set-up wasn't really for the wet," said Bottas. "As a team, we ran quite low wing levels too. I hope at least tomorrow at some point it is going to be dry and we will have overtaking.

"I was sure with the feeling I had in the car that top three should still be possible and obviously Lewis got top three.

"But the issue in Q3 on my slow lap, I had to back off too much for traffic and I just lost tyre temperature.

"I immediately started locking up in the last lap and that's why it was not great."

More rain is expected for race day which will hinder Bottas' potential rise up the order.

Asked if the race would be one of survival, Bottas replied: "If it is like this, yes, getting to the end will probably get you already quite far but there will be opportunities.

"It is not the best place to start but today shows anything can happen and probably tomorrow, it will."

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