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| The victory was the Finn’s first since Russia in September last year |
Valtteri Bottas ended his year-long drought with a dominant victory in Turkey on Sunday while unhappy Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton finished fifth and lost the Formula One championship lead to Red Bullโs Max Verstappen.
Verstappen, 24, was runner-up and 14.584 seconds behind the Finn at a wet Istanbul Park to overturn a two-point deficit to Hamilton and walk away six points clear with six races remaining.
Red Bull team mate Sergio Perez finished third with Ferrariโs Charles Leclerc fourth and ahead of seven-times world champion Hamilton, who had started 11th due to an engine penalty.
โItโs been a while, but feels good. I think from my side probably one of the best races Iโve had ever,โ said Bottas, who started on pole position and was never threatened.
โApart from that one little slide, everything was under control.โ
The victory was the Finnโs first since Russia in September last year.
Verstappen, who started on the front row, had a quiet race and said it had all been about tyre management.
โIโm happy to be on the podium. I think itโs been close the whole year and Iโm pretty sure in Austin it will be a good battle with Mercedes, so we just have to keep pushing, keep trying,โ he said.
The U.S. Grand Prix in Texas is the next race on Oct. 24.
Hamilton might have also been on the podium but Mercedes called him in, against his judgement, for a late stop from third place for a fresh set of intermediate tyres with the track drying.
โWe shouldnโt have come in man. Massive (tyre) graining. I told you,โ said the angry Briton in heated radio exchanges as he realised he had lost two places in the pits.
He pointed out afterwards that Alpine driver Esteban Ocon, who finished 10th, had managed to make one set of tyres last the entire race.
Had he stayed out and kept third, Hamilton would be only a point behind Verstappen.
โWe thought we could finish third without stopping or, if a dry line emerged, maybe going to a soft tyre,โ said Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff.
โThen we saw Leclerc dropping off and Lewis was dropping off and it was clear we wouldnโt make it to the end.โ
Spaniard Carlos Sainz was voted driver of the day for going from the back of the grid, due to power unit penalties, to eighth for Ferrari.
AlphaTauriโs Pierre Gasly was sixth with Lando Norris seventh for McLaren and Lance Stroll ninth for Aston Martin.
REUTERS
