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Valtteri Bottas dedicates pole to Mercedes F1 team after gunpoint hold-up

Related Topics: Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes GP

Valtteri Bottas says he was determined to claim pole position for the Brazilian Grand Prix because he wanted to "cheer everyone up" at Mercedes after members of the team were caught up in an armed robbery.

With Lewis Hamilton out of qualifying following his crash in Q1, Bottas led the Silver Arrows' challenge for pole in Brazil. The Finn found a late improvement on his final flying lap to pip Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel to the fastest time by just 0.038s.

A Mercedes minibus full of team personnel was robbed at gunpoint in Sao Paulo on Friday night as they made their way back from the circuit to the team hotel, but no members of the team were injured.