In 2017, Valtteri Bottas secured his first Formula 1 victory in Sochi

The weekend had started badly for Mercedes BenzThe Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen had monopolized the front row of qualifying — a first since 2008 — with the German on pole 59 thousandths of a second behind number 7. Valtteri Bottas He, for his part, had qualified third, 95 thousandths of a second behind the pole-sitter. Lewis Hamilton fourth, more than five tenths behind, penalized by a lack of balance in the final sector. Everything seemed to be going their way. Team for this Russian Grand Prix.

The younger of the two Finns decided otherwise right from the start. Taking advantage of the slipstream on the long opening straight, number 77 moved to the outside of the four-time German world champion, slipped in front of the Ferrari before the first braking point, and took a lead he would never relinquish. The 2007 world champion had a poor start and lost a place, while Lewis Hamilton remained fourth after being briefly sandwiched between the Finn's Ferrari and the Red Bull de Daniel RicciardoThe race was then disrupted by a collision between Romain Grosjean and Jolyon Palmer from the first round, who sends the Haas The Frenchman crashed into the wall after his rear-left wheel lifted off upon contact with the Renault — triggering the entry of the security car.

A controlled race

At the restart, Bottas set the pace and gradually increased his lead over car number 5, while Hamilton was forced by his engineers to manage his engine temperatures, preventing him from attacking the other Ferrari for third place. The race took on a tactical dimension around the pit stops: Valtteri Bottas pitted on lap 27, rejoined behind his teammate while the latter made his own stop, and regained the lead. Sebastian Vettel chose to stay out until lap 35 to benefit from fresher tires at the end of the race—a strategy that allowed him to close to within two seconds of the Finn in the closing laps.

The final ten laps are thrilling. The German, on newer super-soft tires, is gradually closing the gap to the leader, who made a mistake on lap 38—a wheel lock-up at turn 13 that cost him a precious second and damaged his front-left tire. With five laps to go, the gap drops below one second, allowing the German driver to activate his DRS. The race then becomes a wheel-to-wheel duel in the final kilometers, with Vettel desperately searching for any opportunity to attack. It never comes.

Valtteri Bottas handled the pressure perfectly and crossed the finish line just over a second ahead of the Ferrari. The second Finn completed the podium, ahead of the then three-time world champion, who finished fourth. It's worth noting that after the first-lap pile-up, no overtaking occurred on track for the rest of the race—a perfect illustration of the difficulties posed by the 2017 cars with their very high downforce.

The 107th winner in history

In the press room, the then 28-year-old driver savored the moment with characteristic restraint: “Normally I’m not this emotional, but hearing the Finnish national anthem was very special for me. The first victory is always a bit surreal, and I hope it’s the first of many. It was definitely one of my best races.” The Finn becomes the 107th winner in the history of the Formula 1and silenced those who thought he couldn't live up to expectations at Mercedes.

Valtteri Bottas has added nine more victories to his career. The most recent was at the 2021 Turkish Grand Prix, where he triumphed over the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez. In addition to that, the Finn has 67 podium finishes to his name, between Austria 2014 and Jeddah 2021, the first nine with Williams and the other 58 with Mercedes. The driver has since gone on to drive for Alfa Romeo and Sauber, before spending a year off the track in 2025. He now drives for the newcomer to the Formula 1 grid, Cadillac.

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