BOTTAS WINS
M
ercedes driver Valtteri Bottas joined
the greats of Formula 1 by winning
the Russian Grand Prix, after making
a superb start, controlling the race and then
withstanding immense pressure from Ferrari’s
Sebastian Vettel in the final dozen laps at Sochi
Autodrom.
Bottas started third on the grid, managing
to squeeze by both Ferraris in the drag race
through the first curve and leading into the
sharp Turn 2, with Vettel pole winner forced
to follow him with Kimi Raikkonen slotting into
third and Lewis Hamilton fourth in the other
Mercedes.
But soon the safety car was deployed as
Romain Grosjean and Jolyon Palmer collided
as they battled for the same patch of tarmac,
the Haas tagged the Renault and got sideways
before ending up in the wall exiting Turn 1. The
pair out immediately.
When the track was cleared and the field
unleashed again, Bottas got strong re-start as
he caught the Ferrari duo napping. Thereafter
the Silver Arrows driver established a four to
five second lead until he was pulled in for his
first stop on lap 28.
Ferrari attacked at this point by keeping
Vettel out for an extra six laps, and when the
four times world champion emerged from the
pits a rather mundane race came alive as the
chase was on.
Vettel slashed what was a four seconds
lead and with a couple of laps to go he was
within DRS range of Bottas. It could be said
that the Ferrari driver was not helped by the
Williams of Felipe Massa who got in the way of
a final charge on the last lap of the race.