Bottas fortunate to make front row

The Prema Powerteam driver has been pole position man Edoardo Mortara's closest challenger throughout the weekend, but got it wrong at the worst possible moment when he brushed the wall in second qualifying.

That incident gave him a puncture and damaged his car - forcing him into the pits for repairs. But despite his steering remaining crooked, he was able to get his car onto the front row of the grid with a determined last-gasp effort.

"That session was a mess in the beginning with the red flags," said Bottas, referring to the two stoppages early on. "I really didn't get any laps in and then, after I was going for a good lap, in one corner I touched a wall slightly and got a puncture.

"At the next corner I ran wide, hit the wall and broke the car a little bit. I came in and the steering was not straight, but I still managed to set a time like this."

Starting second on the grid at Macau can be an advantage - because of the slipstream potential down to the braking zone at Lisboa - and Bottas reckons there is everything to play for.

"It would be nice to be on pole position, but everything is still open with the race today," said the Finn. "Like we saw last year, Edoardo was not on pole position but he won the race on Sunday.

"We have a good car and I'm confident that we are going to be fight for the win. Everything is still open and anything can happen."