![]() And Bottas went clean past the Ferraris by the time they got there. Plus at Sochi there is a lengthy run to the first (proper) turn. Likely it would have done, but in F1 we have also a standing start. F1 race director Michael Masi: “I’ll never fill Charlie Whiting’s shoes”īottas at Sochi indeed put all this together to set a qualifying time close to the imperious-looking Ferrari pair, good enough for third, with Hamilton half a second slower.īut still Ferrari had its first front row lock-out since the French round in 2008 and, at this track known for minimal tyre degradation, one-stop strategies and almost-zero overtaking, it held all the aces seemingly.2019 Russian Grand Prix preview: can Mercedes handle the Ferrari charge?.That is usually enough to see him out-qualify Hamilton when the car isn’t working well.” “But with Bottas as his team-mate, a pattern has emerged: Valtteri is flawless in asking the maximum from the front end of the car but not a single km/h more. “When the car is poorly balanced Hamilton tries – and sometimes succeeds – in hustling a lap time from it regardless,” Mark Hughes observed for Motor Sport. On the glass-like Sochi surface Mercedes had trouble getting its tyres into working temperature, and that year when the Mercedes was sub-par something happened. “Flawless” Bottas left Hamilton behind Photo: Motorsport Images As Hamilton was curiously off-song, lacking grip. He nearly got pole for Williams on the inaugural Russia visit in 2014 we may also recall what happened there 12 months ago…Īnd in the ’17 visit, from the Mercedes angle, it had to be Bottas. Already Bottas faced suggestions that he should – in a subsequently-notorious term – play the wingman at Mercedes. The championship was shaping up as a classic face-off between Hamilton and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. But in China he had a botched pitstop then spun behind the safety car, and although he got pole in Bahrain he struggled with his tyres in the race and twice had to wave Hamilton by. ![]() Yet just three rounds later, heading to the Russian Grand Prix at Sochi, the pressure was on.īottas finished third in Australia, chasing his new and prestigious team-mate Lewis Hamilton to the flag. Valtteri Bottas before the 2017 season had Formula 1’s equivalent of a lottery win, getting the plum Mercedes drive after Nico Rosberg’s surprise retirement. We know what they say about crises and opportunities. ![]()
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