Hamilton, Bottas's team mate, started in eighth place after a grid penalty triggered by an unscheduled gearbox change and finished fourth.
Lewis Hamilton won the French Grand Prix on Sunday as Formula One champions Mercedes put on another show of dominance with their 10th victory in a row and 50th one-two finish.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc qualified third with team mate Sebastian Vettel a distant seventh on a distinctly off day for the German.
The next time the four-time world champion will get behind the wheel will be for first Friday practice at Melbourne's Albert Park on March 23.
'I'm so grateful for everyone who helped me be here, to raise the bar and lift the cup'
Formula One leader Valtteri Bottas put his Mercedes on pole position by a massive margin at the Spanish Grand Prix on Saturday with team mate Lewis Hamilton having to settle for second in a front row lockout.
Nico Rosberg's hopes of a third successive Austrian Grand Prix win took a hit on Saturday when he crashed in final practice and damaged his Mercedes' gearbox, incurring a five-place grid penalty.
Triple world champion Lewis Hamilton took a record 69th Formula One pole position with a wet weather masterclass at the Italian Grand Prix.
Sebastian Vettel has lived through a number of false dawns at Ferrari but bright sunshine bathed the team's garage after the German's Australian Grand Prix victory on Sunday.
Red Bull's Dutch 20-year-old Max Verstappen took the chequered flag in second place with Kimi Raikkonen completing the podium for Ferrari and Australian Daniel Ricciardo finishing fourth for Red Bull.
Ferrari won the race in one-two formation, with Sebastian Vettel leading Charles Leclerc, for their third successive victory.
Mercedes won the Formula One constructors' title for the fourth year in a row on Sunday but Lewis Hamilton was made to wait despite cruising to a U.S. Grand Prix victory at one of his favourite circuits.
Lewis Hamilton collected his champion's trophy at a glittering gala in Paris after ending the year in touching distance of Michael Schumacher's records for wins and titles.
Formula One is feeling a fresh wave of optimism under its new owners, while Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso are the two most popular drivers, according to an extensive fan survey released on Friday.
Montreal-born Lance Stroll, who celebrated his 18th birthday on October 29 and has yet to pass his driving test, will be the first Canadian F1 racer since 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve, who won his title at Williams and retired in 2006.
Lewis Hamilton took a huge stride towards a fourth Formula One title on Sunday with victory in an incident-packed Singapore Grand Prix after Ferrari title rival Sebastian Vettel crashed out at the start.
Lewis Hamilton won the Mexican Grand Prix for Mercedes after a first-lap scare on Sunday but the Briton will have to wait another week to wrap up his sixth Formula One world championship. Hamilton's 10th win of the season, and 83rd of his career, was also a 100th for Mercedes as a constructor.
Lewis Hamilton bared body and soul on Sunday after stripping down to his waist on the podium following his victory in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Ferrari title rival Sebastian Vettel qualified only ninth.
Finland's Valtteri Bottas took pole position for the Russian Grand Prix on Saturday with Mercedes team mate and Formula One leader Lewis Hamilton having to settle for second place on the starting grid.
It was Hamilton's third victory of the season and also his third in a row at the sun-bathed but windswept Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
World championship leader Nico Rosberg ended the opening day of practice for the Formula One Japanese Grand Prix in a strong position after setting the pace in both sessions on Friday.
Formula One leader Lewis Hamilton made the most of the changeable conditions to seize pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix ahead of Ferrari title rival Sebastian Vettel on Saturday.
Lewis Hamilton won the Chinese Grand Prix to seize the overall lead from his Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas in Formula One's 1,000th world championship race on Sunday.
The youngest Ferrari race driver since 1961 proved he has what it takes to handle the weight of expectation that comes with driving for the sport's most successful and glamorous team.
Lewis Hamilton became Britain's first four-times Formula One world champion on Sunday after fighting back from last place following an opening-lap collision with arch-rival Sebastian Vettel at the Mexican Grand Prix.
Formula One got back on track in changed circumstances on Friday but with Mercedes bringing a familiar look to the timing sheets as six times World champion Lewis Hamilton led team mate Valtteri Bottas one-two in Austrian Grand Prix free practice. The Briton did 41 laps and lapped with a best time of one minute 04.816 seconds in a damp and overcast session, 0.356 faster than the Finn.
'Every great Formula One season is marked by a great rivalry. Last year it was our internal battle between Lewis and Nico and this year it seems that the fight is on between Ferrari and Mercedes and Lewis and Sebastian'
The last time Kimi Raikkonen stood on top of a Formula One podium, Lewis Hamilton had just joined Mercedes with one championship to his name and Sebastian Vettel was riding high with Red Bull.
Lewis Hamilton is planning to get plenty of rest over the next few days
Lewis Hamilton's Formula One rivals should beware the backlash because the four-times world champion's dip in form will not last long, his former Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg has warned.
The inaugural Formula E race in Hyderabad is scheduled for February 11 next year, joining the likes of New York, London and Rome on the calendar.
The strangest of campaigns crammed 17 races, instead of the record 22 originally envisaged, into little more than five months from July with four triple-headers.
Jehan's rookie year in F3 got off to a solid start in the previous weekend at Silverstone where the multiple Indian and Asian Karting champion earned himself two rookie podiums.
Finland's Valtteri Bottas took his first Formula One pole position at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday with a sizzling lap that ended Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton's bid for a seventh in a row.
Lewis Hamilton won his home British Grand Prix for the third year in a row on Sunday with Mercedes team mate and title rival Nico Rosberg finishing second but under a stewards' investigation.
Nico Rosberg will have Formula One history in his sights in Spain this weekend, even if Dutch teenager Max Verstappen seizes his share of the limelight. The championship leader has won seven races in a row, including the last three of 2015, and can join fellow-German Michael Schumacher (2004) and Britain's Nigel Mansell (1992) as the only drivers to start a season with five successive victories. The chances of that happening looked remote this time last year, when Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton had won three of the first four and was heading for a third title, but Rosberg is now 43 points clear of the Briton. As 18-year-old Verstappen would agree, after his rapid promotion from Toro Rosso in a swap with demoted Russian Daniil Kvyat, Formula One moves fast off the track as well as on it. "I'm just enjoying the moment and the form I'm in, doing my best to keep it going and hoping I can carry it through to the end of the season," said Rosberg, 11/10 at bookmakers' William Hill with Hamilton at 5/4.
The shocked 21-year-old rookie was unhurt in the incident between turns two and three but Williams said the chassis would have to be replaced, sidelining the Briton until Saturday's final session before qualifying. Former world champions Williams are already facing plenty of problems with an uncompetitive car that is some way off their rivals' pace.
Formula One plans to start its coronavirus-ravaged season in May after cancelling this weekend's opener in Australia on Friday and postponing the next three races in Bahrain, Vietnam and China. Confusingly, while Formula One said in a statement it expected to begin the championship in Europe at the end of May, the governing FIA's statement referred to May 1. Both may prove optimistic as the virus spreads across the continent.
World champion Nico Rosberg's retirement announcement on Friday came as a complete surprise even to the man who knows most of Formula One's best-kept secrets, commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone.
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