Valtteri Bottas says he doesn’t understand where the 0.5s gap toꦬ Lewis Hamilton came from in Formula 1 qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix.

As Bottas looks to get his F1 title bid back on track, the Finn struggled to match the performanc🌌e of championship leader Hamilton, narrowly beating the Red Bull of Max Verstappen to second place by less than a tenth of a second.

Bottas has slipped to third in the drivers’ championship afterꦚ a tricky run of races siℱnce winning the season-opener in Austria.

Reflecting on qualifying second in Belgium, Bottas said he doesn’t k♏now why the gap to Hamilton was so big.

“Yes, Turn One wa🎐s a bit inconsistent, but I think we got the car right there,” Bottas said. “It’s just that on the first run in Q3, I think the tyꦗres were a bit too cold at the start of the lap, so I had a bit of a lock-up there, so that was it for the first run.

“The second run felt actually pretty good, overall, so I don’t know where’s the gap to Lewis. But I’m not too bothered, because I know second place is a good place to start here, it will be an🐼 interesting run into Turn Five.”

“Yes, of course, I need to attack if I still want to keep the title 𒁃hopes there. Nothing is, obviously, over until it’s over and I’m going to go for i🥃t.

With the run down the Kemmel Straight into Les Combes a great ovꦗertaking opportunity, Bottas is hopeful he can make a move on Hamilton tomorrow on the opening lap.

“The first lap is always a great opportunity, but here racing is always great so, at least, I know alreadyꦿ 𝓀there will be plenty of opportunities to do it.”