Valtteri Bottas reveals the ‘best race’ of his Formula 1 career that became so ‘hard to replicate’

Valtteri Bottas was once seen as one of the emerging talents in Formula 1 after his success at Williams early in his career.

The Finn produced some impressive drives with the team, especially at the start of the hybrid era when Williams came close to a few victories in the 2014 season.

When Bottas made the switch to Mercedes in 2017 following the sudden retirement of Nico Rosberg, the Finn would go on to take the first of 10 victories at the Russian Grand Prix in Sochi.

But out of all the races, which one is Bottas’ favourite win? When asked on the BBC Chequered Flag podcast, he gave his answer.

Valtteri Bottas picks Australian GP as his favourite victory

Bottas got off to a strong start with Mercedes in 2017 but fizzled out as the season progressed, with Hamilton going on to win his fourth title with the team.

He went winless in the 2018 season but bounced back at the start of 2019 to take an impressive victory at the 2019 Australian GP, a race that Bottas remembers fondly.

“My best race was the 2019 Australian Grand Prix. The whole Sunday I was just in this flow state, when everything feels easy and in slow motion, the whole race was just fully under control,” said Bottas.

“It’s hard to replicate that feeling, but when you feel like you are on it and at your peak, it’s a good feeling.”

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Valtteri Bottas puts in stunning display at the 2019 Australian GP

In the days leading up to the race, long-time race director Charlie Whiting suddenly passed away, leading to the promotion of deputy race director Michael Masi.

It was a sombre period for F1 due to how long Whiting had been in the role and was a well-known figure outside of the sport.

Hamilton went quickest in all three of the practice sessions, but in qualifying, it was Bottas who pulled out the quickest times. In Q3, he took provisional pole, but Hamilton would end up going quickest on the second runs and take pole along with a new lap record.

In the race, it was Bottas who led into the first corner after a great start from second and from there on in he kept the lead until the chequered flag.

It was a commanding drive from the Finn, who went on to take the fastest lap and victory, proving some of his doubters wrong heading into the season, after such a difficult 2018 year.