Bottas says that he was determined to get the fastest lap
- Farhan Khurram
- Mar 19, 2019
- 2 min read
Valtteri Bottas made a spectacular comeback from a disappointing 2018 F1 season, as he won the season-opening Australian Grand Prix with a massive margin (20+ secs) over his teammate, Lewis Hamilton.
Such was the level of Bottas' dominance throughout the race, that not only he won the grand prix, he also obtained a point for having set the fastest lap of the race.
“I was definitively determined to get the fastest lap"
"It is a new rule for this year, so as I had really strong pace I wanted to go for it in the end.
"It’s always a bit risky with the old tyres but it worked. I’m so happy and cannot wait for the next race!”
Formula 1 introduced a new regulation, under which a point will now be rewarded to the driver, who will set the fastest lap time of the race. The very first recipient of such point was none other than the Finn.
This new rule made the dying stages of the race quite interesting as well as thrilling to watch. Normally, drivers are often saving fuel and tires in the final laps to make it to the end of the race, however that all changed, when both Verstappen and Hamilton asked their teams to take a shot at it.
Valtteri Bottas, whose last race win came at the 2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, was just more than happy when he passed the waving checkered flag. The Mercedes driver had to go through an unfortunate 2018 season, which produced not a single victory.
When asked how he felt, Bottas commented, “I don’t know what to say,”
“The start was really good. It was definitely my best race ever. I don’t know what happened – everything felt so good, I had everything under control and it was so good today.
"Truly enjoyable, and I’m going to enjoy today. Everything felt so good, I had everything under control.
“In the beginning, it was all about managing the race and trying to build a gap. After five, six, seven laps I started to build the gap and I had a great feeling.
“I knew I could do it, I had done it before, it was about being at my best level, at one in the car.
"The second stint… I don’t know. When you’re really on it, it feels kind of easy. In the end, it isn’t but that’s what you brain tells you.”
Valtteri Bottas, who now holds an 8 points advantage over his teammate, is being praised all over the Formula 1 fraternity. Given the stats and history, each time a team has secured a 1-2 finish in Melbourne, the winning driver has went on to claim the title too. Though Bottas is now the title favorite, it is yet to be seen whether he proves this stat to be right or wrong by the end of the season.
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