Valtteri Bottas was disappointed to have only qualif🐬ied on the second row of th🎃e grid after feeling he had the pace to “grab” pole position for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The Finn ended up third and 0.160s adrift of his Mercedeꦚs Formula 1 teammate and recently-crowned champion Lewis Hamilton in Brazil, while just 0.067s separated him from Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel in second.

“I’m not far away but here ꦛthe margins are always small,”🐬 Bottas explained.

“I knew today I had the pace to𒀰 fight for pole.ཧ I think it was there for me to grab it but I couldn’t take it.”

Bottas, who claimed pole for last year’s ♊race at Interlagos, believes he lost crucial time on the long drag up to the finish line in the final sector, which he put down to not receiving the benefit of a tow from a car ahead of hi🍸m on-track.

“I was more than two tenths up by the last corner but I lost it all on𓄧 the back straight without any tow.🅺 It was quite disappointing.”

The Mercedes driver cღould yet find hi♑mself starting on the front row, however, with Vettel under investigation for “destroying” the FIA weighbridge.

Hamilton could also be in trouble for blocking the Williams of Sergey S꧟🐷irotkin during Q2, though the incident is not currently being looked at by the stewards.