MELBOURNE, Australia — Valterri Bottas can’t really explain how he got from playing the loyal lieutenant to Lewis Hamilton and failing to win a race last season, to upstaging his Mercedes teammate for victory in Formula One’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix. 2 on the grid to beat five-time world champion Hamilton to the first corner, and stayed in front of his teammate the whole way Sunday to win by 20.886 seconds. It felt so good,” said Bottas, who finished the 58-lap race in 1 hour, 25 minutes, 27.325 seconds. Kevin Magnussen was sixth for Haas, Nico Hulkenberg placed seventh for Renault and 2007 world champion, the 39-year-old Kimi Raikkonen, placed eighth in first drive for Alfa Romeo Racing. Bottas last season faded to finish fifth in the championship after a combination of mechanical problems and team instructions meant he didn’t win a GP.

Source: National Post March 17, 2019 06:50 UTC