Valtteri Bottas ended his year-long drought with a dominant victory in Turkey on Sunday, while unhappy Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton finished fifth and lost the Formula One championship lead to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Verstappen, 24, was runner-up and 14.584 seconds behind the Finn at a wet Istanbul Park to overturn a two-point deficit to Hamilton and walk away six points clear with six races remaining.
Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez finished third with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc fourth and ahead of seven-times world champion Hamilton, who had started 11th due to an engine penalty.
Bottas says: “It’s been a while, but feels good. I think from my side probably one of the best races I’ve had ever.
“Apart from that one little slide, everything was under control.”
The victory was the Finn’s first since Russia in September last year.
TUVAN GUMRUKCU | [email protected]