Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas opened the new Formula 1 season with a win at Austria’s Grand Prix.
The Finish driver reached his eighth career win, ahead of his team colleague Lewis Hamilton, who would later drop down to place No.4 after a penalty from the stewards.
Instead of the reigning champion, Charles Leclerc took the second spot, and McLaren’s Lando Norris ended at the last place on the podium, for the first time in his career.
Bottas had the lead right from the start until the end, and he fully deserved to win this contest. He had Hamilton breathing down his neck, but the Brit made one big mistake once colliding with Alexander Albon. The young driver wanted to pass Hamilton, who didn’t leave enough space for him to do so. There was a slight contact, with Albon finishing off the track. Albon would try to come back, but unfortunately for the Thai-Brit driver, there was no way for him to end the race and he had to quit.
The stewards decided to penalize Hamilton adding five seconds to his time, and he fell down to places in the final standings. As for Norris, he would take the third place with a fantastic drive in the last lap, once he set the time of the fastest lap of the race. Eventually, he finished ahead of Hamilton with two-tenths of the second.
The Austrian Grand Prix was interesting throughout the entire event. We saw a safety car on the track three times, and nine drivers didn’t finish the race at all. High tension was present throughout the entire race, but also some sparks were seen before the start.
Red Bull’s appeal brought Hamilton down to fifth place in the starting grid. The Bulls were complaining about Hamilton’s gesture during Saturday’s qualifiers, once he refused to slow down despite seeing the yellow flags.
Max Verstappen, who was second, was near Bottas at the start, but the Dutchman ended his participation after just 10 laps. German driver and the four-time champion Sebastian Vettel who is not in good relationship with Ferrari finished 10th.
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