Australian Grand Prix results: Valtteri Bottas beats Lewis Hamilton by more than 20 seconds in dominant Melbourne win
The Finn hailed his victory as ‘definitely my best race ever’ after beating Hamilton into the first corner and never looking back, but Sebastian Vettel could only manage fourth behind Max Verstappen
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Your support makes all the difference.Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas pounced past Lewis Hamilton into the first corner as the Finn cantered to the chequered flag to win the Australian Grand Prix.
Bottas completed a one-two lockout of the front row for the Silver Arrows in qualifying at Melbourne's Albert Park with Hamilton going 0.112 seconds quicker for his 84th career pole.
But it was Bottas who led into the first corner with an excellent start guiding him into first position past his team-mate, eventually finishing more than 20 seconds clear.
"How about that?!" he said on the radio after taking the victory.
Bottas said: "I don't know what just happened. I don't know what to say, the start was really good.
"The car was so good today, it was truly enjoyable. It was definitely my best race ever. I can't wait for the next race."
Hamilton said: "It's a good weekend for the team so I have to be happy for everyone. Valtteri drove an incredible race today and truly deserved the win today."
The Briton pitted early - lap 10 - as Bottas put the hammer down with a string of fastest laps on tyres that had carried him nearly 20 times around the 3.295-mile circuit.
Only Red Bull's Max Verstappen made his soft tyres last longer than the Finn as he pitted on lap 27 as the Mercedes returned to the lead.
From the halfway point, there was only ever likely to be one winner as Bottas opened up a 20-second lead over Hamilton.
The five-time world champion appeared to labour on his medium compounds, telling his team he was struggling for rear grip as Verstappen made his case for the second step on the podium.
But the Dutchman ran into the grass on turn one as he closed in on Hamilton, losing ground to the reigning champion and finishing third.
By this point, Hamilton and Verstappen had put some distance between themselves and Ferrari rivals Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc, who wound up off the pace.
Vettel summed up the mood of his race, asking engineers "Why are we so slow?" as he fell to more than half a minute behind Bottas.
The Finn took his fourth career win and the extra point for the race's fastest lap which has been reintroduced this season.
Final Positions after Race (58 Laps):
1 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes GP 1hr 25mins 27.325secs
2 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:25:48.211
3 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:25:49.845
4 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1:26:24.434
5 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 1:26:25.555
6 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 1:26:54.481
7 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Renault at 1 lap
8 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Alfa Romeo Racing at 1 lap
9 Lance Stroll (Can) Racing Point at 1 lap
10 Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Scuderia Toro Rosso at 1 lap
11 Pierre Gasly (Fra) Red Bull at 1 lap
12 Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren at 1 lap
13 Sergio Perez (Mex) Racing Point at 1 lap
14 Alexander Albon (Tha) Scuderia Toro Rosso at 1 lap
15 Antonio Giovinazzi (Ita) Alfa Romeo Racing at 1 lap
16 George Russell (Gbr) Williams at 2 laps
17 Robert Kubica (Pol) Williams at 3 laps
Not Classified:
18 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas F1 29 laps completed,
19 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Renault 28 laps completed,
20 Carlos Sainz (Spa) McLaren 10 laps completed
PA
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