Bottas' performance one of the best we've seen - Hakkinen
F1 News
- Jake Williams-Smith
Two-time Formula 1 world champion Mika Hakkinen believes that Valtteri Bottas' performance in Azerbaijan was one of the best seen from the Finn since joining Mercedes.
Bottas took his second win of the season and held off teammate Lewis Hamilton under intense pressure at the end of the race and retook the lead of the drivers' championship in the process.
By virtue of the fastest lap he recorded in Australia, Bottas sits a single point ahead of Hamilton but Hakkinen outlined his compatriots approach to the season and praised his drive to victory.
"This performance from Valtteri was one of the very best we have seen, and from lap 1 onwards he completely controlled the race," Hakkinen said in his Unibet column.
"A few laps before the end Lewis was told by his race engineer that he could go flat out, but although he closed to the gap, Valtteri responded. This was his race, and no one was going to steal it from him.
"He now leads the World Championship by one point; the point he scored for fastest lap in Melbourne at the start of the season.
"He knows that in order to beat Lewis Hamilton every single point is going to matter, and that’s how he is playing it; winning when the opportunity arises, getting the maximum points finishes at other times."