"It was not a problem of the mechanics, it was our problem and we have to make sure we fix it"
The German was joined on the front row of the grid by reigning world champion and closest rival Lewis Hamilton, in a Mercedes.
Australian Daniel Ricciardo won the Chinese Grand Prix for Red Bull on Sunday while Ferrari's championship leader Sebastian Vettel finished only eighth.
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.
The Mercedes driver was fastest in every phase of qualifying to take pole with a time of one minute 42.553 seconds, a track record.
The German driver can celebrate his 50th win for Ferrari on Sunday as the first Formula One driver to score 1,000 points.
'I'm so grateful for everyone who helped me be here, to raise the bar and lift the cup'
Lewis Hamilton took pole position at the Italian Grand Prix for the third year in a row on Saturday with Mercedes team mate and title rival Nico Rosberg joining the Briton on the front row of the grid.
Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton is ready to sign a new contract that, according to media reports, could net him more than $40 million a year.
Hamilton, Bottas's team mate, started in eighth place after a grid penalty triggered by an unscheduled gearbox change and finished fourth.
Britain's Lewis Hamilton eased his Mercedes to a dominant victory in the German Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday and secured his fourth victory in a row.
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.
Mercedes's brilliant pitstop strategy spoiled the game for Max Verstappen in Hungarian Grand Prix, says Rediff's F1 columnist Raja Sen.
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.
This is the German's 50th career win
Sebastian Vettel handed Ferrari their first Canadian Grand Prix pole position since Michael Schumacher in 2001 on Saturday while Formula One championship leader Lewis Hamilton qualified fourth for Mercedes. Vettel, 14 points behind the Briton, will start from the front for the fourth time at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve after setting a track record of one minute 10.764 seconds on a sunny afternoon.
On a rainsoaked afternoon that saw the race twice stopped and re-started with the safety car deployed five times, there were also those who felt the sport had erred too far on the side of caution.
Max Verstappen was compared to Formula One greats Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher on Sunday after the Dutch teenager's sensational drive to third place in a wet and chaotic Brazilian Grand Prix. Even father and former racer Jos, the 19-year-old Red Bull driver's biggest fan and fiercest critic, was astonished. "What Max showed here today was really special," he said of a race likely to go down in the sport's annals as one for the ages. In the last 15 laps, after a change to extreme wet tyres, Verstappen passed more than half the starting grid as he went from 16th place to the podium.
Mark Webber has tipped fellow Australian Daniel Ricciardo to replace him at Formula One champions Red Bull next season.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
Germany's Nico Rosberg won a dramatic British Grand Prix for Mercedes on Sunday after one of several explosive tyre failures scuppered team mate Lewis Hamilton's hopes of home victory.
Nico Rosberg was hoping to savour, but it must have tasted sweeter than the champagne he drank out of Daniel Ricciardo's boot as the German inched closer to his maiden Formula One title.
Four-times world champion Sebastian Vettel won the Australian Grand Prix for Ferrari on Sunday to dash Mercedes' hopes of extending their dominance into a fourth successive season of Formula One.
Three-time world champion Lewis Hamilton dominated practice at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Friday, putting Mercedes on top of the timesheets and leaving his Formula One rivals with plenty to ponder before the weekend.
Ferrari showed impressive pace during pre-season testing and are considered the team most likely to dethrone Mercedes.
World champion Hamilton stormed to pole with a record lap of one minute 21.164 seconds at Albert Park, with a gap of more than six-tenths of a second to the second placed Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen.
Felipe Massa said farewell to thousands of Ferrari fans in Italy on Sunday and received a trophy nearly as tall as him to celebrate his time with the Formula One team.
Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton took pole position for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Saturday ahead of Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg as the Silver Arrows continued to underline their dominance.
Lewis Hamilton pulverised the track record to claim pole position on Saturday ahead of a US Grand Prix that could secure the Mercedes driver's fourth Formula One world championship.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
Formula One leader Lewis Hamilton smashed the Suzuka track record to seize a dominant Japanese Grand Prix pole position on Saturday with Ferrari rival Sebastian Vettel lining up alongside on the front row.
The four times world champion is enjoying his best start to a season since he was at Red Bull in 2011, leading Lewis Hamilton by seven points after two wins and a second place from the first three races.
Max Verstappen gave himself a perfect 20th birthday present by winning the last Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday, while Lewis Hamilton stretched his Formula One world championship lead to 34 points.
Sahara Force India had a disappointing outing as Adrian Sutil managed 14th while team mate Paul di Resta was two places below at 16th in qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, on Sunday.
Lewis Hamilton won his home British Grand Prix on Sunday and slashed Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg's Formula One lead to four points after the German retired for the first time this season.
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel won the Bahrain Grand Prix to go seven points clear at the top of the Formula One standings on Sunday, with Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton staging a late charge to finish second.
The pole was Hamilton's ninth in 10 races this season, the 47th of his career and left the Briton perfectly placed for a fifth career win at the Hungaroring.
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel put himself on pole position to retake the Formula One lead from Lewis Hamilton after setting the fastest lap in qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix.
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