‘The best race of my life’
Bottas, Hamilton in one-two for Mercedes in Australian GP
MELBOURNE, Valtteri Bottas capitalised on a late pit stop to upset his world champion teammate Lewis Hamilton and clinch the season-opening Australian Grand Prix for Mercedes yesterday with the “best race” of his life.
Starting second behind pole-sitter Hamilton, Bottas got the jump on the Briton during a typically messy start at Albert Park and ended up cruising to his fourth win by some 20.80 seconds after delaying a tyre change.
Runner-up Hamilton, who switched to the medium compound tyres seven laps earlier than Bottas, had to battle to hold off third-placed Max Verstappen and was fortunate the Red Bull driver took a late skid in the grass to lose vital seconds.
Bottas claimed his first race win since Abu Dhabi in 2017 and added icing to the cake by securing a bonus point for the fastest lap at the lakeside circuit in one minute 25.580 seconds.
“I don’t know what just happened. The start was really good, it was definitely my best race ever,” said the overwhelmed Finn. “I just felt so good and everything was under control. The car was so good today, so truly enjoyable, I need to enjoy today. “I’m just so happy and can’t wait for the next race.” Hamilton complained mid-race on the team radio about his early pit stop and said he was worried his tyres would not last.
But he was magnanimous about the result and his team will have been thrilled that their raw pace was enough to blitz the chasing pack. “It was a good weekend for the team,” said Hamilton. “Valtteri drove an incredible race today, so he deserved it. “I’ve just got to work on my starts more.”
For Ferrari, however, it was a sobering day as fourth-placed Vettel and fifth-placed new boy Charles Leclerc were reduced to fighting each other for a minor position. The Scuderia had posted the fastest times during winter testing – just pipping Mercedes – but both cars finished nearly a minute behind Bottas. Four-time champion Vettel held the podium spot for most of the race but ended up easily picked off by Verstappen as Red Bull celebrated a positive debut with Honda engines. “I had to overtake Seb to get on to the podium, which is not easy here, but I was happy to pull that move off,” said the Dutchman, who secured Honda a first podium in the V6 turbo hybrid era. In the midfield battle, Kevin Magnussen was sixth for Haas before Renault’s seventh-placed Nico Hulkenberg.
Former world champion Kimi Raikkonen was eighth in his debut for Alfa Romeo, the team formerly known as Sauber, while ninth-placed Lance Stroll and 10th-placed Daniil Kvyat grabbed the remaining points for Racing Point F1 and Toro Rosso respectively.
It was a terrible Renault debut for home hope Daniel Ricciardo as he rolled wide into the grass straight out of the grid and destroyed his front wing over a bump.
He was forced to pit immediately to replace it and ended up back in the garage midway through the race.
McLaren driver Carlos Sainz also retired after easing into the pit lane on the 11th lap with his car on fire. | Reuters