From magic in Melbourne to Turkish delight – Remembering Bottas’s 10 Grand Prix victories

Valtteri Bottas’s time at Kick Sauber will soon come to an end, with the team opting against a renewal in order to sign F2 star Gabriel Bortoleto as Nico Hulkenberg’s team mate for 2025. As the dust settles on the news, and the wait goes on to find out what the Finn does next, we look back at some of his finest moments in F1 – specifically the 10 wins he achieved across a trophy-filled chapter with Mercedes…

Russia 2017 – The breakthrough first win

Bottas debuted with Williams back in 2013, scoring his first points that year and bagging several podiums across the next three seasons, but it was a move to Mercedes – in place of the retiring Nico Rosberg – that kick-started the Finn’s F1 career.

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In only his fourth race as Lewis Hamilton’s team mate, at Russia’s Sochi Autodrom, Bottas leapt in front of Ferrari pair Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel on the long run down to the first proper corner to take a lead he would convert into a maiden victory.

It was not all plain sailing for Bottas from that point, with Vettel extending his opening stint and fighting back over the final third of the race – cutting the gap to 0.6 seconds but never quite getting close enough to deny the first-time winner.

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Austria 2017 – Adding another to the tally

Bottas followed up that Sochi win with second-place finishes in Canada and Azerbaijan, before the mid-season Austrian Grand Prix yielded the first pole and race win double of his F1 career with a cool, calm and collected performance in the Spielberg mountains.

Having beaten Vettel to P1 on the grid by a few hundredths, Bottas made a clean getaway – and avoided any punishment after an investigation for a jump start – to retain top spot and again keep the Ferrari at bay by 0.6s through to the chequered flag.

Abu Dhabi 2017 – Signing off in style

After several more podiums, Bottas delivered one of the strongest races of his first Mercedes season at the 20th and final round, taking pole by almost two-tenths over Hamilton and managing the gap back to the multiple world champion during the 55-lap encounter.

Despite his best efforts and periods of pressure, Hamilton could not find a way through and ultimately crossed the line some four seconds behind Bottas, whose race engineer heaped praise on a drive that was “so well managed” from start to finish.

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Australia 2019 – “To whom it may concern”

Bottas’s second season at Mercedes was a more frustrating affair, with victory eluding him across a 21-race calendar that included seven P2 finishes – his late puncture on the streets Azerbaijan turning a potential shot at the win into heartbreak.

Following a reset over the winter, Bottas came back in 2019 aiming to prove a point and silence any critics, something he did in style at the season opener in Australia when he grabbed the lead from pole-sitter Hamilton at the start and never looked back.

Bottas pulled more than 20 seconds clear of Hamilton as the race developed and set the fastest lap for good measure, communicating the relief and satisfaction he felt around the achievement in his iconic radio message: “To whom it may concern, f**k you!”

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Azerbaijan 2019 – Bouncing Baku

As touched on above, Bottas was on course for what would have been a confidence-boosting victory at the Baku City Circuit in 2018, until one of his tyres dramatically gave up with two laps to run – handing the lead, and the race win, to Hamilton.

A year later, having backed up his Melbourne triumph with P2 finishes in Bahrain and China, the Nastola native strung together another pole and victory weekend to edge out Hamilton and depart the fourth round of the season with the championship lead.

Japan 2019 – Returning to the top

Bottas’s title challenge faded as the season wore on, with plenty more podiums being achieved after Baku but no more wins coming until 13 rounds later at the Japanese Grand Prix – where he again jumped two Ferraris before Turn 1 and controlled proceedings.

Lining up just behind Charles Leclerc and Vettel, who came close to making a false start, Bottas bolted off the grid to clear both in a matter of metres and romp into the distance, eventually claiming victory over the German by 13 seconds.

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United States 2019 – Making a statement

A couple of races later, Bottas headed into the United States Grand Prix weekend at Austin’s Circuit of The Americas knowing that he needed to win, and out-score Hamilton by 22 points, to keep what had become his rather slim title hopes alive.

He did what he needed to by charging to pole and victory, and while Hamilton – having started fifth after a near-miss with Max Verstappen in qualifying – recovered to second to seal the championship, the triumphant Bottas had shown his worth.

Austria 2020 – Another strong start

Just as he did in 2019, Bottas started the 2020 season as he meant to go on by bagging pole and the win at the Austrian Grand Prix opener, with the Red Bull Ring hosting a double-header to get F1 back on track amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bottas lapped just over a hundredth faster than Hamilton in qualifying and held onto his lead through the race, but some jeopardy was thrown into the mix late on when both Mercedes drivers stayed out on ageing hard tyres and several rivals switched to softer, fresher rubber.

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One of those drivers was Alex Albon, who looked set to put both Silver Arrows under pressure with a rapid turn of pace, only for the then Red Bull racer to bang wheels with Hamilton and get flicked into the gravel – meaning Bottas had a clear run to victory.

Russia 2020 – Back to where it began

Bottas again lost ground to Hamilton in the drivers’ championship as the 2020 campaign progressed, scoring plenty more podiums but dropping valuable points, meaning he arrived at the halfway Russian Grand Prix more than two race wins adrift in points terms.

Bottas started third, behind Verstappen and Hamilton, but cleared the former when the lights went out and shadowed the latter in the opening exchanges before extending his first stint (going 10 laps longer than his team mate) and slotting into P1.

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Turkey 2021 – A stroll at Istanbul Park

Bottas had to wait more than a year for his next – and to this day most recent – Grand Prix win, but it was arguably the best of the lot as he mastered tricky, slippery conditions to take the chequered flag first at the 2021 Turkish Grand Prix.

Moving into pole when Hamilton took a 10-place grid penalty for an engine change, Bottas resisted title challenger Verstappen at Turn 1 and edged clear thereafter – building a lead of almost 15 seconds in what team boss Toto Wolff called a “10 out of 10” drive.

Which victory do you rate as Bottas’s best? Have your say in the poll below!

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