Bottas is disappointed: 'I felt there was a good lap on the way'

Qualifying in Monaco was disappointing for Mercedes on Saturday afternoon. Where Valtteri Bottas did well with a third-place, Lewis Hamilton came no further than seventh. It will not be easy for the Englishman to move up through the grid.

The Finnish driver announced after the press conference that Mercedes will be behind Red Bull Racing and Ferrari for Sunday. "We have seen since practice on Thursday and also this morning that our relative performance against Red Bull and Ferrari is not quite what it has been in recent races - but it is a unique circuit. Different characteristics of the car."

Bottas, however, is proud of the progress Mercedes has managed to make. "By the time of qualifying the car felt a lot better than it did in practice and even since this morning I felt more comfortable with the car and actually felt there was a chance of pole position, which was totally out of reach in practice. That's why it was disappointing at the end with the red flag, because I felt a good lap was coming."

Leclerc and Verstappen up front

Ferrari were already doing well in free practice and carried that form into qualifying. Charles Leclerc will start on pole position. Max Verstappen also set a fast time and will start from second place.