F1: Bottas wins in Turkey as Verstappen takes lead in championship
This weekend in F1 saw Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas come out victorious in the Turkish Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen and his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez coming in second and third respectively.
In wet conditions, it was a race that was full of gripping moments that saw many challenges, overtakes and controversial team decisions.
With his second place finish this weekend, Verstappen has regained the lead in the drivers’ championship, overtaking rival Lewis Hamilton in the process.
Hamilton came into this race knowing he was going to be in a struggle to win, despite finishing first in qualifying Saturday afternoon, he started 11th in the grid after agreeing with his team to receive a 10-place grid penalty in order to receive a new engine.
Hamilton, however, was left furious with his team after he was called into the pits on lap 51 to change out of his intermediate tyres when he wanted to finish the remaining laps in them. The Englishman was quick to blame Mercedes for his finishing position where he ended up finishing fifth.
He was annoyed by the timing of the pit-stop mainly and in says he should’ve either stayed out or come in a lot sooner.
After a fifth-place finish, he will look to be gaining and not lose anymore ground in the championship when he lines up in the race in the United States.
Charles Leclerc also tried to see out the race in his tyres but after getting overtaken by Bottas, he pitted and missed out on the final podium spot to Sergio Perez after he was overtaken when he arrived in the pits.
His Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas had a practically uninterrupted race and coasted to a first-place finish, only having to overtake Charles Leclerc and managed to stay ahead of championship leader Max Verstappen.
Verstappen, despite not winning, can be pleasantly pleased with his race despite him usually performing well in the rain in previous races, it was evident that Red Bull did not have the power to match Mercedes so a second and third place finish for them can be very pleasing for them.
Despite the fact that Pierre Gasly finished sixth for AlphaTauri and also serving a five-second penalty, Carlos Sainz walked away with driver of the day. The Spaniard started 19th on the grid and after a sensational drive and many overtakes, he finished eighth on the grid and gained points for himself and the team.