Bottas vengeful after his victory: “Fuck you!” »

Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) is not (anymore?) there to amuse the gallery. The Finn, authoritative winner of the first event of the 2019 Formula 1 season in Australia Sunday March 17, wanted to close the valve to all the criticism addressed to him in recent months.

“To those concerned, fuck off!” », released the 29-year-old driver on the radio as soon as he reached the finish line in Melbourne, in an exchange not broadcast on TV. “Bravo Valtteri, it’s a reboot”, continued his boss Toto Wolff. 

Valtteri Bottas Post race Radio: “To whom it may concern, fu*k you. »#Valtteri #F1 #AusGP #AustralianGP pic.twitter.com/MDJMbY1pjW

- Red water (@ Insidef1) March 17, 2019

Recharged, Valtteri Bottas dominated the competition, enough to place this victory as “definitely (its) best race of all time. » “I don’t know what happened, but everything was under control. There car was so good today and really fun to drive”, enthuses the first leader of the season. 

As if that wasn't enough for his winning instinct, Valtteri Bottas made the effort to get the point for the fastest lap in the race on the penultimate lap. “After five or seven loops, I started to widen the gap and I had good feelings. 

Porridge for breakfast. #AusGP pic.twitter.com/549dM2FPgP

—Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) March 17, 2019

It’s proof of all the work done internally last winter. » Valtteri Bottas has in fact focused his preparation on the pleasure of driving with participation in the Arctic Rally in a Ford Fiesta WRC (5th) and psychological questioning. It won't be easy to dislodge him from his Mercedes seat if he continues this way...

Find the analysis of the Australian GP carried out by our special correspondents in the next issue of AUTOhebdo, available Monday evening digitally and Wednesday on newsstands.