Bottas believes he will get a boost in confidence from confirming he has the ability to win grands prix.
Sad to say, it appears that Sochi 2017 can be added to the list, the Briton suffering a hard weekend that while leaving him 13 points adrift of his championship rival Sebastian Vettel, also witnessed Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas' first win, leaving the Finn just 10 points adrift of the three-time world champion and stifling media calls for team orders. One that proved that Bottas certainly has what it takes.
Vettel remains the leader in the 2017 F1 Driver Standings after the Russian GP with 86 points.
Felipe Massa brushed off Sebastian Vettel's blocking complaint at the end of Sunday's Formula 1 race in Russian Federation, saying the Ferrari driver stood no chance of catching race victor Valtteri Bottas at the front of the pack. Bottas was third on the grid, having beaten team-mate Lewis Hamilton to the spot. In 2012, as he led the race and Lotus, his team, gave him details, his "Leave me alone, I know what I do" had marked the spirits.
Bottas started third in Sochi, but jumped the Ferrari duo of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen before aptly controlling the latter stages of the race as four-time world champion Vettel closed onto his gearbox. However, further back, Haas driver Romain Grosjean's auto made contact with the Renault of Jolyon Palmer, ending the race for both.
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Le Pen credited herself with upsetting the French political landscape, creating a divide "between patriots and globalists". FN leader, Marine Le Pen, gained the remaining 10.44% of votes - 4% more than during the first round two weeks ago.
With the European season proper starting in Spain next week, and teams promising upgrades and a faster pace of development, the two frontrunners return to their factories with two wins apiece.
The start of the race was delayed for another warm-up lap after McLaren's Fernando Alonso reported on the team radio problems with his auto, which he left idling in the last turn of the circuit before the starting grid. Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo also had to retire with engine trouble. "People always think that we have something against each other, because we have come close to each other and into each other a few times but no, I'm very happy for him to win". This meant that Vettel was able to catch up to the Mercedes driver, chipping away at his lead. "And for my first one, it's very special", said Bottas.
By lap 42 of the 52 trips around the 5.848-kilometre circuit, Bottas' lead was down to 1.1 seconds but Vettel was subsequently held up by backmarkers to ease the pressure. He finished 36 seconds behind Bottas, and the triple world champion needs a strong performance in Spain in two weeks time to re-establish his title credentials.
While the Bottas-Vettel duel was fun it overshadowed the actual lack of track action with virtually no overtaking following the first lap.
Wollf said: "To be Lewis Hamilton's teammate and take over the reigning world champion's vehicle, I think he has done a very good job".
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