Bottas holds off Vettel in Austria

MERC DRIVER DELIVERS DESPITE TYRE TROUBLE Ferrari’s German ace finishes second at Red Bull Ring to increase his lead over Hamilton at the top of the standings.

Valtteri Bottas roared to the second victory of his career yesterday when he won the Austrian Grand Prix for Mercedes ahead of championship leader Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari.

The Finn, in his first season with Mercedes after replacing 2016 champion Nico Rosberg, came home 0.658 seconds clear of Vettel, who increased his lead over Lewis Hamilton in the drivers championship to 20 points.

Hamilton, in the second Mercedes, did his utmost to grab a podium finish after starting from eighth on the grid, but had to settle for fourth behind Australian Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull.

“I had a bit of déjà vu in the end to what happened in Russia when he was right behind me,” said Bottas, who is now 19 points behind Hamilton in third.

“In the last stint, I had a massive blister on the rear left tyre, so that made it quite tricky. And I think it was the start of my life. I was just really on it today.”

Vettel said: “I was struggling a bit in the first part and much happier in the second stint. The last laps were very close – I think I needed one more lap because he was struggling to get up the hill.”

For Ricciardo, on his team’s ‘‘home’’ Red Bull Ring circuit, it was a fifth consecutive podium finish and the 22nd of his career.

The Australian smiled: “It was a fun race with some decisive moments at the start and then defending Lewis in the last laps. It got pretty close”

Vettel now leads the drivers championship with 171 points ahead of Hamilton on 151 and Bottas on 136, while in the constructors title race Mercedes lead with 287 ahead of Ferrari on 254.

Kimi Raikkonen, the 2007 champion, came home fifth in the second Ferrari ahead of Romain Grosjean of Haas, the two Force Indias of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon.

As the lights went out, Bottas made a perfect start – so perfect that his rivals were soon protesting and suggesting he had ‘‘jumped’’ – and pulled clear, while behind him, in a cloud of carnage and debris, the large Dutch fan group sighed as their teenage hero Max Verstappen was forced into retirement under their grandstand at the first corner. – AFP

Picture: AFP TAKE A BOW. Mercedes’ Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas celebrates on the podium after winning the Austrian Formula One Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg yesterday.