Valtteri Bottas has admitted that the pace from his Williams car was not as he expected during the Japanese Grand Prix.

The Finn started from third on the grid at Suzuka, but was unable to reproduce his performance of Saturday as he finished fifth.

However, Bottas also suggested that he might have earned a better result, if he had come in for his final pit stop earlier.

"Not a perfect day for us, but we will take the ten points," Bottas told reporters.

"I was hoping for a podium, but the pace wasn't as good as we had expected. Defending from the quicker cars was hard and I think we should have pitted earlier for the final stop, but it's always easier to say that after the race."

Lewis Hamilton won Sunday's race, beating Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg by 18 seconds.