F1

Valtteri Bottas wins the Turkish Grand Prix as Max Verstappen retakes F1 championship lead as Lewis Hamilton finishes fifth in Istanbul

by
Guest Writer
10 October 2021

Twitter/@MercedesAMGF1

Valterri Bottas won a fascinating Turkish Grand Prix in wet conditions, beating the two Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. Bottas’ Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton was left angered after a late pit stop left him to finish in fifth.

Bottas led almost every lap in difficult conditions and sealed his first win of the season with an overtake on Charles Leclerc, before finishing comfortably ahead of Verstappen. Leclerc would also lose third late on to Perez, as the Mexican driver capped off a great day for Red Bull.

The pit stops came thick and fast from Lap 35 as Lando Norris was first to choose new inters, Verstappen in next on Lap 37 from P2 and Bottas pitting from the lead one lap later. Leclerc was released into the lead but on Lap 48 of 58 he decided the gamble to forgo a pit stop wasn’t going to pay off and came in for new inters.

Max Verstappen regains the F1 championship lead

Verstappen has retaken the championship lead from Hamilton, who was running in third before being brought into the pits with just seven laps remaining. A decision Hamilton was not happy about.

Mercedes told Hamilton that he would have lost more positions by not stopping but neglected to tell the British driver that he would lose two positions. The result sees Verstappen on top of the championship standings by six points with six races remaining.

Leclerc was also attempting to complete all 58 laps on the same tyres before he was passed by Bottas. He then pitted and was overtaken by Perez in the other Red Bull for the final podium position.

Elsewhere in the points in Turkey

Pierre Gasly finished sixth for AlphaTauri despite picking up a five-second penalty for a first-corner collision with Fernando Alonso. Norris finished a miserable weekend for McLaren in seventh.

Carlos Sainz earned Driver of the Day awards after a charge through the field saw him go from 19thto eighth. Lance Stroll picked up two points for Aston Martin after finishing ninth. Sebastian Ocon started 12th but made up two places with Alonso and Yuki Tsunoda dropping out of points contention thanks to respective spins.