Bottas races to first F1 win
SOCHI, April 30
Finland’s Valtteri Bottas celebrated the first Formula One victory of his career at the Russian Grand Prix on Sunday after jumping both Ferraris at the start and then holding his nerve over the tense closing laps.
Championship leader Sebastian Vettel, who had started on pole position alongside Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen, extended his advantage to 13 points with second place after putting Bottas under huge pressure at the finish.
The German crossed the line just 0.6 seconds behind a man who joined Mercedes from Williams in January as replacement for retired 2016 champion Nico Rosberg and was finally a winner after 81 starts.
“Took quite a while, huh?” said the Finn over the radio as he took the chequered flag, an expletive bleeped out for the listening world as he whooped in a rare outburst of emotion. “Worth the wait. First win and hopefully first of many... it’s a good feeling.” — Reuters
Russian Grand Prix
Result
- Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Mercedes 1:28:08.743
- Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Ferrari +00:00.617
- Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 00:11.000
- Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes 00:36.320
- Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Red Bull 01:00.416
- Sergio Perez (Mexico) Force India-Mercedes 01:26.788
- Esteban Ocon (France) Force India-Mercedes 01:35.004
Driver standings
Sebastian Vettel: 86 points
Lewis Hamilton: 73 points
Valtteri Bottas: 63 points
Kimi Raikkonen: 49 points
Max Verstappen: 35 points
Constructor standings
Mercedes: 136 points
Ferrari: 135 points
Red Bull: 57 points
Force India: 31 points
