F1: Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas wins Austrian GP in style

Valtteri Bottas

Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas on the podium after winning the Austria GP yesterday. Pic/AFP

Valtteri Bottas held off Sebastian Vettel to take only his second-ever F1 win in a nail-biting finale to yesterday's Austrian GP. The Finn, who started from pole, crossed the line just 0.6 seconds ahead of the championship-leading Ferrari driver, who now leads the standings over Lewis Hamilton by 20 points.

The Briton finished fourth with Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo taking third spot. Bottas, who replaced the retired Nico Rosberg at Mercedes this year, last won in Russia in April. Then, as now, he beat Vettel to the line by just 0.6 seconds. Yesterday's win though was his first from pole position.

Controversial start
Bottas' win was built on a near-perfect getaway. His launch off the line was so good, his reaction to the lights going off timed at just 0.2 seconds, that he came under investigation from stewards for a jumped start but was cleared.

"I think it was the start of my life. I was just really on it today," said Bottas.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen finished fifth while Haas' Romain Grosjean was sixth.

Force India among points
Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon were seventh and eighth, scoring a double points finish for Force India. Felipe Massa and Lance stroll recovered from their puzzling lack of pace in qualifying to pick up the remaining points for Williams in ninth and tenth.