Valtteri Bottas says it’s ‘quite a feeling’ to claim his maiden victory in Formula 1 after holding off a late charge from Sebastian Vettel.
The Finn started from the second row but made a terrific start to take the lead into Turn 2, building a gap of over five seconds to Vettel before the first round of stops.
However, due to difficulty lapping traffic, Vettel was able to close the gap and put huge pressure on Bottas in the closing laps, managing to get within DRS range.
Nevertheless, Bottas held on to become the fifth Finn to win in the sport at his 81st attempt.
“It’s amazing, it took quite a while, more than 80 races for me but definitely worth the wait, definitely worth the learning curve,” he said.
“This strange opportunity came to me in the winter to join this team and they made it possible today, so I really want to thanks to the team, without them it wouldn’t be possible, it feels amazing.
“We’ve had a tricky beginning of the year, the fight with Ferrari again today was very close, we managed to be on top; we need to keep pushing [but] I’m very happy now.”
Bottas’s victory, coupled together with team-mate Lewis Hamilton’s fourth place, sees Mercedes regain the lead in the constructors’ championship.
