On a bright, clear day, defending world champion Lewis Hamilton completed the 5.303-km Albert Park circuit in 1 minute, 24.026 seconds.
After winning three races last year — the first ones since he started in 2013 — Bottas is keen to challenge Hamilton all the way.
The Australian GP next weel will be Vettel's 200th race whereas meanwhile, Hamilton seeks a record-extending 73rd pole and a 63rd GP win.
It was a busy day at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona after snowfall and cold temperatures kept most cars in the garage on Wednesday.
The Finish driver further said that he is not going to hold on his weaknesses and would rather concentrate on spending his energy and focus on performing well on track.
Brown insisted that McLaren and almost all other teams would be very interested to rope in Hamilton.
Hamilton who holds the record for highest pole positions (72) said he was assured from the beginning of doing well in the 2017 season.
Describing Bottas as an "amazing" teammate, Hamilton backed the former to put up a more sustained challenge next season.
The Australian has said that the highest class auto racing is a talk around who has the fastest car rather than the natural driving talent.
Marchionne is unhappy with the sport's proposed 2021 engine rules, which were revealed at the end of October, and has said that Ferrari could leave F1.
Next year's Sauber car will bear the Alfa Romeo logo and will be equipped with Ferrari power units.
Hamilton, who won nine races in the 2017 season to secure the title, failed to clinch the top podium finish in the Brazilian and Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
It was a frustrating finale to a topsy-turvy year that saw Ricciardo finish fifth in the Formula One standings.
Ferrari are the only team to have competed in the Formula One World Championship continuously since its inception in 1950.
With 10 points from today's race, six for Perez and four for Ocon, Force India collected 187 points from the 20 races this Formula One Championships season.
Vettel was .149 seconds behind Hamilton, and Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo was .303 back in third.
With Hamilton wrapping up this year's title two races ago, the pressure is off this week at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The New F1 chief executive Chase Carey said the changes were planned in order to make the sport exciting and to engage fans.
Brazilian GP organizer Tamas Rohonyi said other venues could replace Interlagos in case the new owners fail to extend the contract with F1.
Massa has 11 wins and 41 podiums from 268 races. He will bid goodbye to home fans at the Brazilian Grand Prix next week at Interlagos.
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