Mercedes 'weaker than expected' on Friday - Bottas

Valtteri Bottas admits Mercedes was surprised at how uncompetitive it was during Friday practice for the Malaysia Grand Prix.

While the first practice session was topped by Red Bull in wet conditions, of more concern to Mercedes was FP2 when Ferrari led the way and Lewis Hamilton was the lead Mercedes in sixth place, some 1.4s off Sebastian Vettel's pace. Bottas was just 0.043s slower than his teammate in seventh and concedes the gap to the front was a surprise.

"We were definitively weaker today than we expected," Bottas said. "We are not yet quite sure why, the balance of the car in general was pretty good, but we're missing grip, sliding a lot and overheating the tires, so it wasn't the best day for us.

"Lack of overall grip was the main thing today and the only question mark is the new parts we had in the car today, so we really need to see if they made the car worse or what is the problem. The guys are still looking at everything. Normally this track was supposed to be quite good for us, but we were definitively not quick enough. It was not like the car was terrible to drive – the balance felt good, but we were missing grip."

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Elaborating on the new Mercedes parts, Bottas says the weather conditions that saw FP1 take place in the wet could also have contributed to the struggles.

"It was a difficult day for testing different things, because of the weather in the first session, which was quite mixed. In the second practice there was the red flag at the end, also I went off and we lost some time there. So, it was not the easiest Friday and also it seems our pace is missing a bit.

"We definitively need to find something just for the one-lap pace, at least, so we have a lot of work to do.

"We just have to work hard. We have a great team, many clever people here to do that. We did try some new aero parts today, so one answer may be that one of those parts didn't work as expected. I suppose the new parts are quite a big step, but it didn't quite seem to happen. The team is reviewing everything and we need to make sure we have the right parts for tomorrow."

Bottas revealed the car felt equally uncompetitive in both wet and dry conditions, saying it makes no difference to Mercedes what the weather does on Saturday and Sunday.

"I have no preference, really. I think in both conditions we have equal work to do. We were lacking pace in both conditions, roughly the same amount, so we do need to sort the car for wet and dry, so I don't really mind."