Valtteri Bottas has revealed brake problems hampered his pace during qualifying for the German Grand Prix.
The Finn had to settle for third on the grid at Hockenheim, three-tenths behind teammate Lewis Hamilton with Max Verstappen splitting the two Mercedes.
A solid result considering the inconsistencies, Bottas was facing.
“I felt fairly okay in FP3, there were no worries, so qualifying should be quite interesting, but all through qualifying I struggled with the brakes locking,” he explained.
“In Turns 2, 6 and 8, all the big braking locking up many times and going straight [on].
“The confidence in the braking, the bite of the brakes was varying from one lap to the other, so it was difficult. I felt there were 0.2s or 0.3s I could have improved in Q3, by getting everything spot on, but no more than that. It was not the easiest of qualifying."
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Because of the brake issues, it also meant building up a rhythm was very difficult for Bottas.
“It was a little bit surprising. The consistency was not there and I was always not sure what was going to happen when I hit the brakes if was going to lock the fronts or not, so that made it more difficult,” he said.
“It can happen sometimes but we need to know why."
Looking ahead to Sunday though, the 29-year-old is hoping the weather forecast offers an opportunity to fight for pole.
“We were hoping for a better result but it’s not a disaster and it’s a long day tomorrow. If it rains then it doesn’t matter where you start from, it’s going to be a mess, so it should be good," he concluded.
