Valtteri Bottas believes there was something fundamentally wrong with the Mercedes car during F1 practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after finishing FP1 all the way down in 16th. The Finn wasn't the only Mercedes driver to struggle, as teammate Lewis Hamilton could only manage the 11th fastest time. Hamilton stated that the team will be left scratching their heads given their lack of pace , while Bottas believes something went wrong given the lack of grip he had going around the streets of Baku. “It was very, very tricky for us today and clearly we were lacking pace,” said Bottas. “It feels like it's just overall grip, you know. “The balance is not that far off. Okay, the car is maybe a bit unpredictable, but it just feels like lacking grip and sliding around. So I think it's gonna be a long night tonight. “Better on the long run? Slightly better maybe on the long run, but still, we're lacking pace. That's for sure. So I think there's something fundamentally wrong and we need to figure out what.” Mercedes are looking to bounce back after a difficult weekend in Monaco, but Bottas believes the team have taken a step back so far in Baku. “It was tougher, yes," Bottas added. "Monaco wasn’t easy, but, at least we were more or less there by the time of qualifying and now we seem quite a bit off."
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