A heartbreak for Valtteri Bottas

Last year, Valtteri Bottas had stolen second place from Lance stroll (Williams) on the finish line. This time, the end of the race will not have been kind to the Finn, well placed to win in Azerbaijan, after taking advantage of the racing events to take the lead in the event.

Third on the grid, the Finn held his position until his teammate stopped at Mercedes Lewis Hamilton, then that of the Ferrari de Sebastian Vettel, to take control of the Grand Prix.

The scenario then seemed to turn to the advantage of the former Grove resident with the entry into action of the safety car, following the collision between the two Red Bull de Ricciardo et Verstappen.

The moment chosen by Mercedes to stop the Finn and thus bring him out in front of Vettel who had also made a second pass through the pits. A strategy well carried out by the world champion team, but the beautiful story will ultimately not come to an end.

Two laps from the goal, a puncture on the right rear, visibly caused after driving over a piece of debris, ruined Bottas's hopes and left the field open for his teammate Hamilton to secure the first victory of the season for Mercedes.

« I'm absolutely devastated, admits Bottas. It hurts. But that's the race: some days are good, some days are bad, and some days are very bad. A small piece of debris destroyed my entire weekend.

We had a good race until the puncture. The car felt really good and we were fast. I thought I had everything under control during the restart after the Safety Car, but suddenly my tire exploded. I didn't see the debris and didn't smell it until the tire blew. »

Fair play, Lewis Hamilton recognized after the finish that his teammate deserved the victory today.

Discover the full report and analysis of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, produced by our special correspondents in Baku, in issue 2163 of AUTOhebdo, available tomorrow evening in digital version and this Thursday on newsstands.