Bottas: I didn't quite have the pace in Brazil

Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas has claimed "he didn't quite have the pace" in the Brazilian Grand Prix, with the Finn finishing fifth at Interlagos.

Bottas started the day in third place after an impressive qualifying from Mercedes, and the Finnish driver made a huge start to the race; overtaking Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel to slot in behind his team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

However, Red Bull's Max Verstappen managed to overtake Bottas, who was clearly struggling with overheating tyres on the supersoft Pirellis.

Vettel was called in for his second pitstop by Ferrari and Mercedes covered this by calling Bottas in again, meaning a P5 finish for Bottas.

Mercedes achieved 35 points, though, thanks to Bottas' finish and largely down to Hamilton, who comfortably won in South America to crown the Silver Arrows world champions for a fifth year in a row.

"I think we didn't quite have the pace today," Bottas explained to The Checkered Flag. "It was a slightly tougher race than I expected. I was a bit more optimistic before the race, but overall it is a great day for Mercedes.

"In the first stint, I was struggling with overheating tyres (and) in the second stint, I was struggling with blistering on the mediums, so we had to stop a second time. Everything went as planned at the start, but after that it got more difficult."