Lewis Hamilton: Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas wants top spot in the standings

Valtteri Bottas

Bottas wants top spot off Hamilton

He clearly has a taste for P1 now.

Matthew Scott

Wednesday 24 April 2019 17:14

Valtteri Bottas is determined to stake his championship claim once again at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, having been knocked off the top of the standings by Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton. Bottas is also out for vengeance on the Baku circuit, after a near-miss 12 months ago.

The Finn was cruising to a victory that would have put him top of the drivers' standings in Azerbaijan last year, only to run through a piece of debris three laps from the end, causing a puncture which ruined his race.

Bottas' season unravelled from there as he dropped out of title contention and had to play second fiddle to Hamilton.

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However, having led the championship for the first time in his career after this year's races in Australia and Bahrain, Bottas has a taste for top spot.

"I'm just disappointed I didn't win [in China] because obviously when you start from pole there's only one goal for the race," Bottas said.

"I know myself, but it was all about the start, so that's why it was disappointing.

"It's a sport that is all about details and about learning those and seeing if anything can be better in the future.

"Sometimes there are things that you can't affect, maybe [China] was one of them, but we need to make sure if there's anything we can learn.

"That's life, that's how it goes sometimes, but it's early in the season and I'm only a few points behind in the championship.

"For sure I would prefer to still be leading but that's the situation now and if I keep performing well I can turn it around, so that's going to be the goal for Baku."

Bottas' best result in Baku was 2017's second place – a result he secured from a lap down after a now typically chaotic race.