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WATCH: Throwback to Valtteri Bottas winning Russian Grand Prix in 2017 (Source: X)
Valtteri Bottas turned 35 on the 28th of August 2024 becoming one of the oldest drivers in the circuit. His first major win at the Russian Grand Prix in 2017 for Mercedes was one of the highlights of his career. In his prime, Bottas was one of the best in the business and made a name for himself. His race with Sebastian in Sochi was memorable.
Sebastian Vettel started the race in the first position. Valtteri started in the third position and held on to the rank for the most part in the race. It was towards the last two laps where he accelerated well and threatened Vettel and fellow Finn Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari. He overtook both of them to clinch his maiden win for Mercedes in Formula 1.
Watch the video here -
Champagne has never tasted so sweet, @ValtteriBottas πΎπ
β Formula 1 (@F1) September 25, 2019
In 2017 the Finn secured his first #F1 victory in Sochi π#RussianGP π·πΊ pic.twitter.com/Ai0pgr1UOp
Valtteri had a lead of just 0.617 seconds against Vettel and ensured a thrilling finish in the last lap. Sebastian and Kimi finished second and third respectively. Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen finished 4th and 5th respectively and gained a good number of points for Mercedes and Red Bull respectively. It was undoubtedly the day that belonged to Bottas.
Valtteri Bottas' achievements and recent record
After the race, Hamilton went and congratulated his teammate for the win. Bottas last won a major race at the Turkish Grand Prix in 2021. Since then, the Mercedes driver has been trying to find his mojo. Representing his team with a car number of 77, Valtteri Bottas has 10 wins to his name with 67 podium finishes for his team.
He has a total of 1797 career points, 20 pole positions, and a total of 19 fastest laps. He finished the 2023 season at the 15th position and would be hoping to improve the record by the end of this season. His last race was in the Dutch Grand Prix where he finished in the 19th spot for Sauber. The fans would be hoping to see him perform better.