Taking his first grand prix victory in over fifteen months, Valtteri Bottas turned over a new page in his F1 career on Sunday at Albert Park.
There’s many things you can do to improve as an F1 driver. Get a coach, review telemetry, see a psychologist… but grow a beard? If Sunday in Melbourne is anything to go by, that’s all it took for Valtteri Bottas.
Okay, so it’s probably a
little more than that, but whatever changes he’s made, Sunday in Melbourne showed us a very different version of Valtteri Bottas.
Consider the Bottas we’d come to know over the course of the 2018 season. Even taking into account the two lost wins in Azerbaijan and Russia, there were serious doubts as to his position as a top-shelf racing driver. Not only was he comprehensively outclassed by Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton, but he couldn’t outshine any of the drivers at Ferrari or Red Bull either.
Sometimes he lacked pace, sometimes he lacked racecraft, sometimes he lacked aggression, sometimes it was all three. After two years with the Silver Arrows, it seemed he just wasn’t up to the standard of a big three team.
So to turn up on Sunday, and not just win the race (his first since Abu Dhabi 2017), but do it by being indisputably better than everyone else, is a pretty remarkable turnaround. Of course, Hamilton’s getaway certainly helped matters, but starts are as much a part of racing as anything else, and Bottas did it better.
More importantly, he had the measure of Lewis from then on, building a steady gap that was up to 3.843 seconds before the Brit made his pit stop (and where he presumably picked up his floor damage, however minor), and extending it to 20 seconds by the flag. Finally, he got to hammer his point home with fastest lap honours – 26 points and the championship lead? Not bad for a number two driver.
More than any other man on the grid, Bottas needed a victory. With 20 races still to go and Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and co. sure to have something to say in response, it may-or-may-not greatly affect the final outcome, but it has clearly given the soft-spoken Finn his mojo back, and for now at least, that’s all that matters.
Quick Hits
- The great exchange between Mark Webber and Bottas on the podium is about as perfect an example of the contrast in their cultures as you’ll ever get. Webber asks “what did you have for breakfast?”, meaning “where did that performance come from?”, and Bottas responds with “porridge” – which, as resident Finnish journo Heikki Kulta explained in the press room, is exactly what he ate! Apparently both Bottas and Raikkonen have chefs to make them some proper Finnish porridge wherever they go, but Kulta himself was a bit miffed, because being unable to buy some in Melbourne, he's had to miss out.
- In its first race as a rule, it was great to see Bottas, Hamilton and Max Verstappen all make serious attempts to snatch the fastest lap bonus point. It definitely adds a little extra excitement to already-decided races like Sunday’s, although I fear it will only last until the first driver crashes because of it.
- They may still be a ways off the leaders, but Sunday was definitely a good day for Red Bull and Honda. Verstappen’s pass on Sebastian Vettel and subsequent podium will definitely buy them some extra time in the “honeymoon” phase of their relationship, before wins become an expectation.
- I don’t want to say Pierre Gasly should be worried about my prediction, but he’s not off to a good start!
Driver of the Day: Valtteri Bottas
Didn’t put a foot wrong. Never had the win in doubt. What more could you ask for?
Worst of the Day: Daniel Ricciardo
Keeping alive the proud Aussie tradition of disappointing the home fans, Ricciardo’s race was over before it began.
Quote of the Day:
“To whom it may concern: f*** you.”
loading
Latest News
Loading
