MOTORSPORT: Bottas wins Turkish F1 Grand Prix

Valtteri Bottas likely scored his last Formula 1 win when he took an untroubled victory for Mercedes-AMG in a damp and slippery Turkish Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton had qualified on pole position, but a 10-place penalty for an engine change took him out of contention, clearing the way for his teammate and leaving him only fifth at the finish after a poorly-timed tyre change.

Max Verstappen banked important points at Istanbul Park with second place for Red Bull, giving him a six-point break over Hamilton with only six races scheduled to the end of the championship.

His Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez followed him home and also stole important points from the defending champion.

It was a highly tactical race as drivers fought to preserve their Pirelli tyres on a drying track, while racing for position on a day when the right rubber at the right time would always be critical.

Bottas and Benz did everything right, but the Black Arrows also botched Hamilton’s strategy – according to their driver – as the Bulls played safe and banked their points.

“Today was frustrating but it is what it is. I’m naturally a risk taker,” said Hamilton.

“You have to rely on your team, accept the choices they make and hope it’s the right one – as I always say, we win as a team and we lose as a team.”

Not surprisingly, with Hamilton certain to take priority to the end of the season and a move to the lowly-rated Alfa Romeo team coming in 2022, Bottas was brimming with happiness.

It was also redemption for the fast Finn, who looked miserably awful a year earlier when he spun five times and was lapped by his teammate in similar wet conditions.

“Today as probably one of the best races I’ve had ever. My first win of the year too which feels great and I was happy to bring it home. It also took points off Red Bull so great for me and the team,” said Bottas.

For Verstappen, who probably expected to win in Turkey once Hamilton slid to 11th on the grid, the race was compromised when Bottas led from the start and he never looked a serious threat.

“It was not easy today. The track was very greasy. We couldn’t really push,” said Verstappen.

“The race was all about managing tyres, to make sure they lasted to the end, which means it wasn’t the most fun race to drive as you always want to push hard.

“I do wish I had a bit more pace in the car, but we are still in the fight, we’ll keep pushing and we’ll see in the coming races how competitive we will be.”

Daniel Ricciardo was never competitive in Istanbul. He started last after failing to advance from the first section of knock-out qualifying, then took an engine penalty like Hamilton and battled for grip on a day when he was only 13th and his McLaren teammate Lando Norris also struggled for seventh.

“I think we had maybe four laps in the race where we had good pace but the rest was hard. The last 10 laps were a bit painful, just trying to hang on,” said Ricciardo.

In a bitter contrast, Carlos Sainz started alongside the Aussie on the back row of the grid and charged through to eighth place for Ferrari.

Istanbul shows, once again, that there is nothing between the rival Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG teams through the back end of the 2021 championship battle, pointing to more torrid tussles between Verstappen and Hamilton before the season wraps in Abu Dhabi.

“We are still in the fight, we’ll keep pushing and we’ll see in the coming races how competitive we will be,” said Verstappen.

Said Hamilton: “Valtteri did a great job today. If we can continue to perform like that over the next few races, we’ll be in a good position come the end of the season.”

The fight for the world championship now moves to Austin in Texas for the US Grand Prix on October 24.

2021 Turkish Grand Prix results:

2021 Formula 1 driver standings: