Formula 1: Valtteri Bottas dominates 2019 Australian Grand Prix

Valtteri Bottas opened up the 2019 Formula 1 season by dominating the season opener, the Australian Grand Prix, at Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit.

After a winless 2018 Formula 1 season that was littered with various instances of misfortune and victory-preventing team orders, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport’s Valtteri Bottas opened up the 21-race 2019 season by winning the Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit.

Bottas, who started the 58-lap race around the 16-turn, 3.296-mile (5.304-kilometer) Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit road course in Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia in second place, won it by 20.886 seconds over teammate Lewis Hamilton, who started the race from the pole position, in second.

This 20.886-second margin of victory is the largest margin of victory in a Formula 1 race since Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg won the 2016 Russian Grand Prix by 25.022 seconds over Hamilton in second place.

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This victory is the fourth victory of Bottas’s Formula 1 career. He earned the first three victories of his career in the 2017 season, which was his first season driving for the Silver Arrows. His most recent victory prior to today was his victory in the 2017 season finale, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

After earning his fourth career victory and ending a 21-race win drought in doing so, the 29-year-old Finn sits atop the driver standings for the first time in his career.

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen rounded out the podium by finishing in third place. Scuderia Ferrari teammates Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc rounded out the top five by finishing in fourth and fifth, respectively.

Leclerc’s fifth place finish is his new career-high finish, as this race was his first race driving for Ferrari. He spent the 2018 season, his rookie season, driving for Alfa Romeo Sauber (now Alfa Romeo Racing).

Rich Energy Haas’ Kevin Magnussen finished as the “best of the rest” in sixth place, as Red Bull Racing’s Pierre Gasly did not even finish in the top 10 after starting in 17th. He ended up finishing in 11th.

Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg, Alfa Romeo Racing’s Kimi Raikkonen, SportPesa Racing Point’s Lance Stroll and Scuderia Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat rounded out the top 10 by finishing in seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th place in an extremely competitive mid-pack battle.

The race featured a total of three lead changes among two drivers. Bottas led 56 of the race’s 58 laps while Verstappen led the other two. Hamilton did not lead any laps despite the fact that he started from the pole position, as Bottas passed him at the start and only relinquished the lead as a result of the fact that he made his pit stop two laps before Verstappen did.

In addition, Bottas recorded the race’s fastest lap and earned one bonus point as a result of it. Of the 20 drivers who started the race, 17 finished it, and of the 17 who finished it, six finished it on the lead lap.

Here are the full race results of the 2019 Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit.

Race Results
1st – Valtteri Bottas
2nd – Lewis Hamilton
3rd – Max Verstappen
4th – Sebastian Vettel
5th – Charles Leclerc
6th – Kevin Magnussen
7th – Nico Hulkenberg
8th – Kimi Raikkonen
9th – Lance Stroll
10th – Daniil Kvyat
11th – Pierre Gasly
12th – Lando Norris
13th – Sergio Perez
14th – Alexander Albon
15th – Antonio Giovinazzi
16th – George Russell
17th – Robert Kubica
18th – Romain Grosjean
19th – Daniel Ricciardo
20th – Carlos Sainz Jr.

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The next race on the 2019 Formula 1 schedule is the season’s second race, the Bahrain Grand Prix. This race is scheduled to take place on Sunday, March 31, and it is set to be broadcast live on ESPN2 from Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain beginning at 11:05 a.m. ET.

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