Valtteri Bottas says he has “no clue” where he is lacking pace around the Baku City Circuit after he ended Saturday’s qualifying session in 10th place.
The Finn failed to complete a second timed lap in Q3 after a red flag was brought out, leaving him 1.4 seconds away from pole position.
Team-mate Lewis Hamilton brought himself into contention at the top end of the order, claiming second place on the starting grid, with his lap time only two tenths down on pace-setter Charles Leclerc.
However Bottas was forced to settle for a spot on the fifth row, marking his worst qualifying result since joining Mercedes in 2017.
“It was pretty messy as expected with the red flags, yellow flags everything,” Bottas said.
“From my side, the last run I missed like many others, but something is still not right. I’m so far off the pace and I have no clue why. I have no explanation.
“Coming here, I thought we would be fighting at the front. Lewis is at the front, in the fight, and I should be as well. I have no explanation. I think something is wrong.”
Bottas added that he was “losing [time in] every corner. If I push harder, I’m in the wall. So that’s the limit.”
The 31-year-old, who won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in 2019, says he will aim to recover as much as he can on Sunday.
“[I will] try to understand everything I can and tomorrow, with this race, anything can happen,” Bottas said. “There will be opportunities.”
