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Bottas wins Turkish GP, Verstappen new overall leader

Sports Desk, Oct 10 (EFE).- Fin Formula One driver Valtteri Bottas won a wet Turkish GP, his first 2021 triumph, ahead of Dutchman Max Verstappen who reclaimed the top spot in the overall classification.

Mercedes’ Bottas kicked off the race from pole position, taking advantage of a 10-spot penalty handed to his teammate Lewis Hamilton, who ended fifth a competition he started from the sixth row.

“It’s been a while. It feels good,” Bottas told F1 media afterwards. “From my side, that’s one of the best races I’ve had.”

“It’s not easy to choose the strategy here in these conditions. It feels like a well-earned victory,” he added.

Verstappen, who was trailing Hamilton by two points before the race, regained the top spot in the drivers’ standings with 262.5 points, six more than the Briton.

“It was not easy today! I’m happy to finish second, in these conditions it would have been easy to get it wrong,” the Dutchman said.

Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate, Mexican Sergio Perez completed the podium, ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc of Monaco.

“It was just one of those races to be patient. We didn’t really know what was going on with the tyres today. It was pretty hard to manage,” he said.

Frenchman Pierre Gasly (Alpha) came sixth, just behind Hamilton, the seven-time world champion, who was punished with a 10-place grid penalty for changing an engine compound, exceeding the limit.

Briton Lando Norris (McLaren) finished seventh, ahead of Spaniard Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), Canada’s Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) and Frenchman Esteban Ocon (Alpine) respectively.

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