Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas will start from 17th position on the grid in the Russian Formula 1 GP, today in Sochi, due to the replacement of the engine of his car which resulted in a penalty of ten places compared to the seventh obtained in the qualifying yesterday.
His teammate, Lewis Hamilton, will start from fourth position - the front row is occupied by Lando Norris in McLaren and Carlos Sainz in Ferrari, the third position is by George Russel in Williams - while his title rival, Max Verstappen, will start last, alongside Charles Leclerc's Ferrari, to change the power unit.
The choice of the Mercedes team seems in part linked to the particular situation, with the Finn - who is on the second penalty for changing the engine - who could 'control' the Dutchman who will try to gain positions as quickly as possible.
Bottas, yesterday, said that starting from the seventh position he would have a good chance of aiming for the podium and maybe even the victory.
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