After losing a front row start to a gearbox penalty incurred earlier in the weekend, Valtteri Bottas is taking comfort from the fact he will start the race several places ahead of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.
F1's two Finns are likely to play a role in the championship battle for the final five races as rear-gunners for respective teammates Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel. They also both go into Sunday's race with a gearbox penalty -- Mercedes did not feel Bottas' previous unit would have completed another race, so swapped it ahead of the weekend, while Ferrari was forced into a change after Raikkonen crashed out of FP3.