Valtteri Bottas believes the long run to Turn 1 offers his best chance to beat Lewis Hamilton in Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix.

The Finn will line up alongside the world champion on the front row in Barcelona after Mercedes was once again in a league of their own in qualifying, finishing 0.7s clear of Max Verstappen in third.

The gap between Bottas and Hamilton though was just 0.059s, and such a narrow defeat was understandably frustrating for Valtteri.

“I knew it would be close with Lewis, as always,” he told Johnny Herbert in parc ferme.

“On the first run, the lap he did was nice and clean, especially through Sector 3. All day I was struggling in that sector, it got better and better but not quite good enough.

"Of course it’s annoying, but he did a good job and for the team it’s another front row.”

Also Read:

• Bottas criticised for lack of aggression against Hamilton: 'Keep your foot in!'
• Mercedes, Hamilton see Verstappen as F1 title rival after Silverstone win

During the second run in Q3, Bottas thought he'd just done enough to dethrone Hamilton to claim his second successive pole.

“I thought I was going to improve because when I crossed the line I was a tenth up from my previous time, but then obviously it went to zero," he told RaceFans.

“Maybe I just covered a bit more distance, that’s how the time delta works. I thought it was a bit better, the second run, but it wasn’t. I don’t think the track really changed.”

Starting second though might not be the worst outcome for Bottas, as he can use the slipstream from Hamilton to try and make a move into Turn 1.

“I think the start will be my best opportunity [to get ahead]," he conceded.

"Yesterday my long runs were competitive so I will have the pace, but the start will be my best chance. It’s a long run to the first corner and I’ll be trying to get there first.”