After a couple of tough races for Valtteri Bottas, he made his way back onto the podium for the first time since the Belgian Grand Prix. Whilst many thought the car was good enough to go for the win, it turned out to not be that way, as he looked to not have any chance against the dominant Mercedes, even with Nico Rosberg’s self-induced tyre problem. An issue for Felipe Massa in qualifying and a risky strategy which didn’t pay off meant that the Brazilian finished outside of the points for the fifth time this season.
Williams Russian GP Review
No. 19 Felipe Massa (BRA)
Grid: P18
Race: P11
A fuel flow problem in qualifying saw Felipe Massa lose 14mph on the straights compared to his team mate. This left him outqualified by a Caterham and in 18th place on the grid. He ditched his hard tyres after lap 1 (coincidentally when Rosberg pitted) and Massa put on some softs. He followed Rosberg up the field until Massa’s gamble hoping for a safety car didn’t work, and the Brazilian had to pit again. He made his way up to 11th place but he could manage no further and he ended the race less than a second behind his good friend Sergio Pérez who picked up the final point.
No. 77 Valtteri Bottas (FIN)
Grid: P3
Race: P3
Valtteri Bottas was on course for his maiden Formula One pole until a massive slide coming out of the final corner saw the Finn have to pull off a pretty spectacular drift. He held a really solid second place due to Rosberg’s early stop for the majority of the race but the German found his way through eventually. Nonetheless, this result was a very strong one for Bottas and it moves him ahead of both Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel in the World Championship. It would be a truly brilliant achievement for the young Finn to finish ahead of these established World Champions in just his second Formula One season.
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