Bottas hands five-time champ Hamilton a lesson ...and a wake-up call
VALTTERI BOTTAS tore up the script in Melbourne and put Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel on notice for 2019.
The Flying Finn started second on the grid, sandwiched between his two illustrious rivals, who boast nine world titles between them.
His Mercedes team-mate Hamilton was steeling himself for a bigger challenge this season than last.
And Vettel’s Ferrari was reported to be in good shape to provide that challenge.
But as they took the first corner of the new campaign, Bottas left the pair standing, raced into the early lead, and did not look back as he claimed a striking win Down Under.
He finished the race more than 20 seconds clear of an out-of-sorts Hamilton, and even clinched a bonus point for the fastest lap of the race to come away with a full 26 points. Having spent a full season watching Hamilton’s tail lights and hearing about how good a No.2 he was, this was sweet music for Bottas, who delivered a message to his critics.
“To whom it may concern, f*** you,” he muttered on his team radio moments after taking the chequered flag.
This success came off the back of a hugely frustrating 2018 campaign for Bottas, in which he failed to register a single victory as Hamilton romped to 11 triumphs.
He showed signs of discontent last year when he angrily reacted to Mercedes boss Toto Wolff ’s passing comment referring to him as a “sensational wingman”.
The Silver Arrows even ordered Bottas, who was leading the Russian Grand Prix, to let Hamilton ahead in a bid to prevent Vettel from winning the Sochi race.
With Esteban Ocon waiting in the wings as Mercedes’ reserve driver, the former Williams racer, 29, went into the winter break desperate to bounce back.
“The start was really good,” he said, after claiming his first win since the 2017 Abu Dhabi GP. “It was definitively my best race ever. I don’t know what happened – everything felt so good, I had everything under control and it was so good. Truly enjoyable, and I’m going to enjoy the day.”
Hamilton had to settle for second, the fourth time in as many years that he has taken pole position in Australia only to finish behind the leader.
He said: “It’s a good weekend for the team so I have to be happy for everyone. Valtteri drove an incredible race and deserved it. It’s a great start to the year and it’s what we could have hoped for the team.
“I’ll just train and work hard to stay and improve for next time.”
Dutch racer Max Verstappen pushed Hamilton all the way, but ultimately had to make do with a respectable third place for Red Bull.
Vettel, meanwhile, trudged home fourth and was left scratching his head as to why Ferrari were so far off the pace.