Bottas wins in Turkey, Verstappen moves six points clear of Hamilton

Oct 11, 2021 06:00 am

Valtteri Bottas ended his year-long drought with a dominant victory in Turkey yesterday, while unhappy Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton finished fifth and lost the Formula One championship lead to Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

Verstappen, 24, was runner-up and 14.584 seconds behind the Finn at a wet Istanbul Park. He overturned a two-point deficit to Hamilton and went six points clear with six races left.

Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez finished third with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc fourth and ahead of Hamilton, who had started 11th due to an engine penalty.

"It's been a while, but feels good. I think from my side, probably one of the best races I've had ever," said Bottas, who started on pole position and was never threatened.

Hamilton could have also been on the podium but Mercedes called him in, against his judgment, for a late stop while in third place for a fresh set of intermediate tyres with the track drying.

"We shouldn't have come in man. Massive (tyre) graining. I told you," said the angry Briton in heated radio exchanges as he realised he had lost two places in the pits.