Bottas eyeing race start after missing out on pole

Valtteri Bottas says that he knows he needs to get a good start to Sunday's race in the French Grand Prix if he wants to beat Lewis Hamilton, who took a terrific pole position in France to put himself in the best position to extend his championship lead.

Bottas now trails his five time champion teammate by 29 points in the standings and knows he has to limit the gap as Hamilton is so good at taking control of a championship and running away with it.

Bottas' final lap in Q3 was messy at best, and he mentioned how the wind direction and speed put him off through the lap.

The Finn is now focusing on beating Hamilton off the line to take the lead into the first corner, and he told Sky Sports after the session: "I think Lewis had a really good lap and it's been super close between us and its all about fine details in qualifying.

"The wind changed direction and there was a couple of corners my line didn't work and I had to work it out but Lewis had a better lap.

"It's been a really strong package we have here this weekend. It's been enjoyable and it's a nice run into turn one so hopefully I can do something then. The race start will be one of the key things."