Bottas holds off Vettel to win in Austria
Reuters
July 9, 2017 21:13 MYT
July 9, 2017 21:13 MYT
Valtteri Bottas won the Austrian Grand Prix for Mercedes on Sunday with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel finishing a mere 0.6 of a second behind to increase his lead over Lewis Hamilton to 20 points after nine races.
Hamilton, Bottas's team mate, started in eighth place after a grid penalty triggered by an unscheduled gearbox change and finished fourth.
Vettel now has 171 points to Hamilton's 151.
Australian Daniel Ricciardo finished third for Red Bull, at a circuit owned by the energy drink brand, for his fifth successive podium finish with Hamilton pushing him hard to the chequered flag.
The victory from pole position was the second of the season and of his career for Bottas, who joined Mercedes in January as a replacement for retired 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg.