Bottas moved from Williams on a one-year deal as an emergency replacement for German driver Nico Rosberg, who stunned Mercedes — and all of F1 — by retiring days after winning the 2016 title.
Four-time world champion Lewis Hamilton penned a new deal with Mercedes until 2020, when the current set of F1 regulations end.
At the midway point of the Formula One season, Sebastian Vettel holds only an eight-point lead over rival Lewis Hamilton in an intriguing title contest.
Hamilton managed to fight his way back to finish second after a Ferrari-Mercedes duel developed with Valtteri Bottas leading until Vettel hit the front again with five laps to go.
Vettel, who leads Hamilton by one point going into the 10th of 21 races, was faster than Hamilton until the British driver went again to finish 0.044 seconds ahead.
Hamilton, who is going for a fifth straight victory and a record sixth overall in his home Formula One race, clocked the best lap time at 0.367 seconds faster than Bottas.
Lewis Hamilton is bidding to win the British Grand Prix on Sunday for what would be an outright record sixth time at his home race.
It was the first time that no Mercedes car had reached the finish since the Spanish GP two years ago, when Hamilton and Nico Rosberg crashed into each other.
Bottas edged Hamilton by 0.019 seconds for his first pole position of the season as Mercedes locked up the front row of the grid for the third time this year.
Vettel trails championship leader Hamilton by 14 points going into Sunday's ninth of 21 races.
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, who trails Hamilton by 14 points going into Sunday's ninth of 21 races, had a fastest lap that was 0.236 behind Hamilton's.
Vettel, who leads by just one point going into the 10th of 21 F1 races this season, clocked the best lap time by 0.187 seconds faster than Hamilton and 0.357 quicker than Bottas.
Hamilton trails Vettel by one point at the top of the standings heading into Sunday's race at the Paul Ricard Circuit.
Heavy rain kept drivers in the garage for most of the final practice of the French GP with Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes ending up fastest in the washed-out third session.
The last time an F1 race was held here at Le Castellet was in 1990 when Alain Prost won for Ferrari.
Ricciardo said he had not directly spoken to rivals Ferrari and Mercedes, but he hedged when asked if his manager had.
Mercedes were unable to deliver a reliable engine upgrade in time for the Canadian GP, helping Ferrari return to the top of the podium for the first time since 2004.
The four-time world champion sped on after the checkered flag was waved one lap too early, finishing his wire-to-wire victory at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Sunday
Vettel covered the 2.71-mile (4.36-km) track in 1 minute, 10.764 seconds to deprive Lewis Hamilton of a record seventh pole in Montreal.
The 20-year-old Dutchman is looking to overcome a recent history of mistakes that left him threatening to head-butt anyone who asked about the crashes.
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