Bottas in flying start to season Down Under

What you need to know:

  • For Bottas' efforts, he will now ride on the fact that the winning driver every time a team has finished one-two in Melbourne has gone on to win the year's championship.
  • Bahrain Grand Prix is next and Ferrari will be keen to show Mercedes that they won't have it all their way.

Watching the opening race of the 2019 season at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit on Sunday, one would have been forgiven for thinking that Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas is more experienced than his team mate Lewis Hamilton, judging by how the Finn showed his teammate dust.

Such was the supreme nature of Bottas’ victory in the first race of the year that he could have afforded to watch Usain Bolt run a 200m race on getting to the chequered flag and still 'returned' after the sprint to see Hamilton and the rest finish the race.

The time of 20.886 seconds was the gap between the leader and his teammate at the end of the 58-lap race. It is an unusual gap, but also one that lends one to believe that Hamilton's car had an issue.
Issued team statement

Indeed Mercedes later said on Twitter that they had discovered damage to part of the five-time world champion's car after the race, the “floor in the area just in front of the left-rear tyre.”

The team could however not explain why a chunk of the floor was missing. That mishap should not cloud the importance of Bottas' imperious victory for in 2018, he never won a race.

Mercedes had managed to lock out the front row in Australia, dealing a psychological blow to close rivals Ferrari. But Albert Park is not kind to pole sitters, and Hamilton was about to find out.

No sooner had the race started than Bottas, from second position, stole the show, starting superbly and dashing to be the first into Turn One.

Behind the Mercedes, Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel was keen to block the charging Honda-powered Red Bull of Max Verstappen.

The Dutchman had managed to split the Ferraris in qualifying and Vettel knew lack of a decisive move to block Verstappen could mean losing third position seconds into the start of the race. Vettel was behind Hamilton at the start but then moved right to block Verstappen.

Leclerc benefitted

It meant that going into Turn One, the German's teammate, Charles Leclerc, had benefitted by having room to accelerate unimpeded and when he took the right turn on the outside, he was almost side by side with his more experienced teammate.

Leclerc took evasive action, braking and using the shoulder of the track to avoid a collision with his teammate which would have ruined the race for both.

As the drivers settled down in the race, it was clear that Bottas was 'in the zone' for he started increasing the gap with the rest consistently. Vettel pitted on the 14th lap, Hamilton a lap later to cover the move.

On the 18th lap and less than a third into the race, Daniel Ricciardo in a Renault, had the ignominious experience of being lapped by the race leader.

The Australian had lost his front wing less than six seconds into the race and it seemed as though his race was going from bad to worse. He eventually retired.

Bottas was told to pit on the 23rd lap, and when he did so, it was left to Verstappen to lead the race. Up till that point, it had been more than a decade since a Honda-powered engine led a Grand Prix race.

Verstappen dived into the pits two laps later leaving Leclerc as the only one in the top five not to have pitted. On the 31st lap, the unexpected happened with Verstappen, who had much fresher tyres, overtaking Vettel cleanly. Who thought that Honda would get the better of a Ferrari this soon?

Vettel's first race was not as impressive as he would have liked. Seven laps before the finish, his teammate was right behind him and within DRS range, having cut a deficit of more than 11 seconds in less than seventeen laps.

All of a sudden, Leclerc backed off in what seemed like a behind the scenes call by the team to have him maintain position.

This year, setting the fastest lap of a race and finishing within the top 10 qualifies one for an additional point. Bottas was hungry for that extra point.

It turned out to be his day as he managed to snatch the fastest lap of the race from Verstappen on the penultimate lap.

Hamilton, on his part, was able to fend of Verstappen in the last stint of the race and ensure that Mercedes collected the maximum points for the Constructors standings as well.

For Bottas' efforts, he will now ride on the fact that the winning driver every time a team has finished one-two in Melbourne has gone on to win the year's championship.

Bahrain Grand Prix is next and Ferrari will be keen to show Mercedes that they won't have it all their way.