Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas has ended his barren winless run to clinch the Turkish Grand Prix 2021 on Sunday.
This was Bottas’ 10th career Formula 1 win and first since Russia in 2020. His Mercedes teammate and defending champions could only finish fifth to hand back the overall championship lead to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who finished second on wet conditions.
The drivers struggle to control their vehicles amid wet conditions caused by heavy rains at Intercity Istanbul Park on a 5.4-kilometre circuit.
“Well-earned victory”
Starting from the pole position, Bottas won the 58-lap race at 1:31:04 on a wet track.
In the post-race interview, Bottas said his victory was one of his “best ever” Formula 1 races. He said, “It’s been a while. It feels good. From my side, that’s one of the best races I’ve had. It’s not easy to choose the strategy here in these conditions. It feels like a well-earned victory.”
Runner-up Verstappen was 14.58 seconds behind the Fin while Sergio Perez finished third with 33.47 seconds behind the race’s winner.
Verstappen said, “It was not easy today! I’m happy to finish second, in these conditions it would have been easy to get it wrong.”
Verstappen Red Bull partner Mexico’s Perez said it was one of those races to be patient. Perez said, “We didn’t really know what was going on with the tires today. It was pretty hard to manage.”
Hamilton started in P11 due to an engine penalty. With Verstappen not letting up his standards, Hamilton faces a tough battle ahead to retain his title with only six races left.
About 100,000 live spectators
This weekend’s race was held with spectators as the novel coronavirus continues to affect daily and social life.
The last time F1 fans were able to attend a race at the Intercity Istanbul Park was in 2011. However, almost 100,000 fans attended the Turkish Grand Prix.
