Bottas wins Austrian GP as Vettel hikes lead

SPIELBERG, Austria - Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas made a great start from pole position to win the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday, while Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel finished just behind in second to extend his championship lead over main rival Lewis Hamilton to 20 points.

Bottas just held off Vettel’s late charge, with the German driver crossing the line 0.6 seconds behind.

“He was catching up. I had a massive blister in the rear left (tire),” Bottas said. “I was losing more and more stability of the rear. I was happy the race ended on that lap.”

Vettel was frustrated at missing out on a 46th career win by so little.

“I was told he was in trouble, I was pushing. The car came alive and I had really good pace,” Vettel said. “I think I needed one more lap because he was really struggling up the hill.”

Vettel had never finished higher than fourth in Austria, twice retiring from races.

“I really wanted to win, so not entirely happy,” Vettel said.

Meanwhile, Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo showed great ability to defend third place from Hamilton, who almost passed the Australian driver on the last two laps but had to settle for fourth.

Bottas, who won in Russia, clinched the second victory of his career — and both have come since he joined Mercedes from Williams this season. His first career podium was on the same Spielberg track, when he finished third for Williams in 2014.

Bottas is now only 15 points behind Hamilton in the overall standings and close to contending for the title.

“I believe and the team believes,” Bottas said. “We’re not even halfway yet.”

Hamilton started from eighth on the grid on Sunday.

The British driver had the third fastest qualifying time behind Vettel and Bottas, but was demoted five places for an unauthorized gearbox change after the last race in Azerbaijan two weeks ago, which Ricciardo won.

Ricciardo, who is fourth overall, clinched his fifth straight podium.

Helio Castroneves wins in Iowa to end 3-year drought: Helio Castroneves dominated the IndyCar race Sunday at Iowa Speedway for his first victory since 2014.

The 42-year-old Castroneves led 217 of 300 laps, giving powerhouse Team Penske its first victory on Iowa’s short oval in 11 tries.

It also was the 30th career win for Castroneves, the Brazilian who was winless since the first race of the Belle Isle doubleheader in Detroit in June 2014. Castroneves also passed Al Unser Sr. for fourth in career laps led.

Dane Cameron, Eric Curran win IMSA race in Canada: Dane Cameron survived a wet and wild final 50 minutes to win the IMSA SportsCar Championship race Sunday at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

Cameron held off Stephen Simpson in the rain in the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R, teaming with Eric Curran for their first victory of the season. Simpson and co-driver Misha Goikhberg finished second in the No. 85 JDC-Miller Motorsports ORECA LM P2 in the race that the featured changing weather conditions and various pit strategies.

Steve Torrence races to fifth Top Fuel victory of season: Steve Torrence won the NHRA Route 66 Nationals on Sunday for his fifth Top Fuel victory of the season, beating Antron Brown in the final.

The points leader edged Brown with a 3.779-second pass at 326.08 mph. Torrence has won three of the last four events to push his career total to 13.

— Wire services