Valtteri Bottas says the Monaco weekend hasn't been an easy one for Mercedes as both drivers struggled for pace throughout practice and qualifying.
Bottas will start third, and although he managed to get to within just 0.045 seconds of Kimi Räikkönen's pole position time, he struggled throughout Q1 and Q2 before things finally came together on his final run.
Team-mate Lewis Hamilton meanwhile qualified 14th after struggling for grip and then on his final run he got caught up in yellow flags for Stoffel Vandoorne's crashed McLaren, forcing him to abandon his attempt.
Bottas says the entire weekend has been a struggle, particuarly FP2 where Mercedes where well off Ferrari and even Red Bull's pace.
"I think this weekend has been a bit tricky for us," said the Finn. "We started well in practice one, but got a little bit lost with the set-up in practice two, so we definitely lost some valuable practice time.
"We got things more or less together in practice three, and in qualifying the car was feeling the best it has so far this weekend. It was still a bit tricky in places and quite difficult to get a lap together.
"I think Lewis also struggled with that and had some traffic in Q2."
Bottas is hopeful of a dramatic Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday in the hope he can challenge the Ferraris at a track where overtaking is incredibly hard.
"It’s not been an easy weekend for us," he added. "I think Ferrari in general has had the upper hand. Their car is a bit more driveable, they were quicker today, and well done to Kimi for the pole. Tomorrow is the race and this is one of the places where anything can happen."
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