Picture Credit: Formula 1
Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas drove a memorable race on Sunday to emerge victorious at Turkish GP 2021 in wet conditions. The Finn, who started at the pole, was at his absolute best at Istanbul Park as he dominated the race right from the beginning. It was a pretty good outing for Red Bull as well as their duo of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez finished P2 and P3, respectively, to complete the podium.
Notably, Carlos Sainz was voted as driver of the day for his fantastic drive to finish at P8 after starting the race from P19.
Turkish GP 2021 classification
P1 - Valtteri Bottas
P2 - Max Verstappen
P3 - Sergio Perez
P4 - Charles Leclerc
P5 - Lewis Hamilton
P6 - Pierre Gasly
P7 - Lando Norris
P8 - Carlos Sainz
P9 - Lance Stroll
P10 - Esteban Ocon
P11 - Antonio Giovinazzi
P12 - Kimi Raikonnen
P13 - Daniel Ricciardo
P14 - Yuki Tsunoda
P15 - George Russell
P16 - Fernando Alonso
P17 - Nicholas Latifi
P18 - Sebastian Vettel
P19 - Mick Schumacher
P20 - Nikita Mazepin
Lewis Hamilton produces remarkable recovery drive
Despite being the fastest in qualifying, Lewis Hamilton was forced to start Sunday's race from P11 because of a 10-place grid penalty. However, the 7-time F1 champion produced a remarkable drive to eventually finish P5.
Although it looked like Mercedes were planning for a no-stop race, they eventually decided to pit Hamilton on lap 50, a decision which did not go down well with the driver.
Max Verstappen gets ahead in championship battle
Max Verstappen's second-place finish assured that he would overtake his championship rival Lewis Hamilton in the F1 driver's standings. He has now taken a 6-point lead over the defending championship and will be hoping to build on the same going into the final phase of the season. The top five drivers after Turkish GP 2021 are as follows:
1. Max Verstappen - 262.5 points
2. Lewis Hamilton - 256.5 points
3. Valtteri Bottas - 177 points
4. Lando Norris - 145 points
5. Sergio Perez - 135 points
Mercedes retain their position at top of constructors' standings
Although Red Bull did cut the gap slightly on Mercedes with a double-podium finish on Sunday, the Silver Arrows remained at top at the end of Sunday's race with a healthy lead of 36 points. The top five teams after Turkish GP 2021 are as follows:
1. Mercedes - 433.5 points
2. Red Bull - 397.5 points
3. McLaren - 240 points
4. Ferrari - 232.5 points
5. Alpine - 104 points