Bottas wins Azerbaijan Grand Prix with Hamilton second

BAKU (Agencies): Valtteri Bottas won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after a dominant run from pole position. With his teammate Lewis Hamilton in second it secured Mercedes a remarkable fourth successive one-two finish this season. Sebastian Vettel was third for Ferrari with Max Verstappen in fourth for Red Bull. Charles Leclerc who had started from eighth after crashing in qualifying made a valiant effort on an alternate strategy to come though to take fifth.

The win was hugely welcome for Bottas and some redemption after he was denied victory at this race last year, when a puncture while leading with three laps to go ended his race. Baku has produced huge drama in recent years and did so again in qualifying but this time the race proved to be closely fought but an uneventful battle at the front. Having held his lead off the start Bottas once again put in a consummate drive to secure victory. Hamilton stayed with him throughout, as did Vettel, but neither could challenge for the lead.

It was enough for the Finn to retake the championship lead from Hamilton over whom he now has a one-point advantage. Vettel dropped further back, now 35 points behind Bottas. This is Bottas’s fifth career victory and after his win at the opening round in Australia and two second places in Bahrain and China continues what has been the strongest start to a season of his career. The victory has issued stern notice to Hamilton that he will face a real fight from his teammate, who clearly intends to take a shot at the title.

In China Bottas had also taken pole but was beaten off the line by Hamilton. After starting at the front here, the Finn ensured no such repeat this time and having held his lead, went on to make the most of it and dictate the race. Having expected to be chasing Ferrari, to conclude the opening four flyaway races with two wins is an opening Bottas would not have imagined. He has ensured he has been at the very front of the mix in every race and taken advantage of every opportunity. Mercedes too cannot have expected to have taken all four wins thus far.

Bottas and Hamilton went wheel to wheel with inches to spare through the first two corners but the Finn held his nerve and his line to maintain his lead. It was breathless stuff but both drivers kept it clean as the walls loomed over them. With his lead intact Bottas immediately opened a gap of over two seconds as they both dropped Vettel by over four seconds. The two Mercedes found their rhythm with a stable two-second gap by lap six and while Vettel slipped further back, Leclerc was charging through the field.

He had dropped to 10th from eighth on the grid, having started on the harder rubber, but had recovered to fifth by lap five. He then caught and passed Verstappen for fourth by lap 10 by which point he was only four seconds behind his teammate. He was enjoying the better pace of the two Ferraris, as he had displayed earlier in the weekend and with his medium tyres clearly working better than the softs.