Valtteri Bottas admitted to feeling disappointed after losing his provisional front row start for Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix after a grid penalty for changing the gearbox on his Mercedes Formula 1 car. Mercedes confirmed on Friday it had to change Bottas' gearbox, triggering a five-place grid drop that prompted the team to run an alternate tyre strategy through qualifying. Anticipating a lower grid position than normal, Mercedes got Bottas through Q2 on the soft tyre to give him a longer first stint in the race, but he was able to charge to second place on the super-softs in the final moments of Q3. Related Articles Raikkonen paying ‘hefty price’ for Japanese GP FP3 mistake Vettel...
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