Bottas Shines with Stellar Ninth in Abu Dhabi Qualifying

Valtteri Bottas delivers a standout performance, claiming ninth in Abu Dhabi qualifying with one of his career-best laps.

Valtteri Bottas secured an impressive ninth place, potentially in his final Formula 1 qualifying session. The Stake F1 driver expressed satisfaction with having a better car at his disposal, though he lamented the late arrival of functional upgrades.

“We made progress with the car a few races ago; it has more potential, and we did what was needed. That was one of the best laps of my career, and it feels good,” said Bottas, who noted over the radio that the car couldn’t go any faster. “Yes, but I found a bit of time in Q3 thanks to track evolution.”

“I think we started the weekend with the right setup, in a way that gave me a good feeling with the car. From there, we just fine-tuned it, and I found the confidence to be precise. Also, I finally have a car I can work with, which is great.”

“It’s satisfying, but it’s a bit late in the season to get these updates; it would have been nice earlier! But that’s how it goes sometimes, and as the saying goes, you’re only as good as your last race, so I’ll try to make it a good one tomorrow,” added the Finn, admitting the weekend feels unusual.

“There’s some emotion, but the feelings are different because I don’t know what comes next. It’s a bit frustrating that this might be the last time with the team. There’s some emotion for me, but nothing changes in the car. It’s more about before and after that things feel a bit strange.”

Guanyu Zhou finished 17th in Abu Dhabi Grand Prix qualifying and will start 15th due to penalties ahead of him, though he admitted disappointment at not making it past Q1 despite a clear reason for the outcome.

“It was disappointing because we had the pace for Q2, but on the last run, I was the first out of the pack and had no tow. We need the tow because we lack top speed. Apart from that, the lap was clean, but it’s frustrating as I wanted to do better,” said Zhou.

“I think the race pace will be good, and we have the car to achieve that. Looking ahead to tomorrow, I think we can move forward. It’ll be around 15th place, and that’s where I’ll focus because today wasn’t a great day.”