Valtteri Bottas Tag

By FIA Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas went quickest in the opening practice session for this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, beating team-mate Lewis Hamilton by over two tenths of a second as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen crashed out. The session was approaching the halfway mark when Verstappen lost control in the Ascari chicane and spun off. He hit the wall, breaking his front wing and causing damage to the nose cone. He was able to keep his car going, however, and limped back to the pit lane as the red flag wereRead More

By FIA Valtteri Bottas went quickest in the opening Formula 1 practice session for the Belgian Grand Prix, narrowly beating Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen. Bottas set his best time of 1:44.493s on soft tires to eclipse championship leader Hamilton by 0.069 seconds. Verstappen got close to the Mercedes pair on the longest circuit on the calendar and the Dutchman ended the session with a best time of 1:44.574, just 0.081 off Hamilton’s P1 time. Fourth and fifth places in the session went to RacingRead More

By FIA Lewis Hamilton took a dominant lights to flag victory in sweltering conditions at Spanish Grand Prix, eventually crossing the line 25 seconds clear of Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen. Hamilton’s Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas was third ahead of the Racing Points of Lance Stroll and Sergio Pérez. In an ambien temperatures of aeround 30˚C and on a track nudging above 50˚C, Verstappen made a good getaway at the start and he was able to outpace the slower-starting Bottas on the long run to Turn 1 and steal P2 behind Hamilton.Read More

By FIA Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheet in the second practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix, beating teammate Valtteri Bottas by almost three tenths of a second. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was third. In high temperatures, the Mercedes drivers set the pace in the early part of the session with Hamilton taking P1 with a lap of 1:17.960s on the medium tire. Bottas slotted into P2, though he was running on hard compound Pirelli tires but shortly before the half-hour mark Verstappen stole seconds from the Finn as heRead More

By FIA Valtteri Bottas went quickest in the first practice session for this weekend’s FIA Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix, as Lewis Hamilton finished in second place to complete a Mercedes one-two. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was third. Bottas set a lap of 1:16.785 to beat championship-leading teammate Lewis Hamilton by 0.039 seconds, while Verstappen finishing nine tenths behind the pacesetting Finn. The session got off to a sluggish start and it was 20 minutes before the first meaningful lap of the morning was set. That came from Verstappen whoRead More

By FIA Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas beat Lewis Hamilton to take pole position for Formula 1:s 70th Anniversary Grand Prix, as Nico Hulkenberg took to third for Racing Point in his just his second weekend back in the sport. Hamilton led the way ahead of the final runs of Q1, with the Briton setting the pace with a lap of 1:26.818, set on soft tyres. That left him just under two tenths of a second ahead of team-mate Valtteri Bottas, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in third thanks to a lapRead More

By FIA Mercedes Valtteri Bottas went quickest in the first practice session ahead of Sunday’s FIA Formula 1 70thAnniversary Grand Prix, beating team-mate Lewis Hamilton by just over a tenth of a second at Silverstone. After last weekend’s British Grand Prix, tyre manufacturer Pirelli has brought a softer tyre selection for this second race at the Northamptonshire Circuit and as such all drivers prioritised running on the red-banded soft tyre during a 90-minute session in which track temperatures hit 45˚C. Bottas set a time a best time of 1:26.166s onRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team announced Thursday that veteran driver Valtteri Bottas has agreed on a one-year contract extension to stay with the race team. The new deal will mark the Finnish racer’s fifth straight season piloting the No. 77 “Silver Arrow” where he’s scored all eight of his Formula One victories, including this year’s season opening Austrian Grand Prix. “I’m very happy to stay with Mercedes in 2021 and build on the success we’ve enjoyed together already,” said Bottas. “Thank you to everyone in the teamRead More

By FIA Valtteri Bottas topped the timesheet in final practice for the British Grand Prix beating Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton by just over a tenths of a second. Max Verstappen was third for Red Bull Racing, three tenths of a second off Bottas’ pace. Racing Point, which set the pace on Friday, saw Lance Stroll finish fourth in the session. The 60 minutes of running got underway in much cooler temperatures than Friday with thje air temperature some around 15 degrees lower than in FP2. It was similarly windy though and teamsRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Back at Sonoma Raceway two years ago, at the first-ever race I was credentialed to cover a NASCAR Cup Series race for this website I still proudly write for, Kyle Larson was the focal point of unnecessary controversy. Why? It’s because Larson’s passion for dirt racing (sprint and midgets), like wanting to run for the World of Outlaws championship in the future, was more apparent than his main driving profession which is stock car racing. Larson said some aren’t as open minded of versatile racers andRead More