Hamilton "in his own league" in São Paulo masterclass - Bottas

Valtteri Bottas described Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton as being "in his own league" en route to victory in the São Paulo Grand Prix.

Bottas started from pole at Interlagos but was immediately passed by Red Bull duo Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez into turns one and four respectively.

The Finn eventually finished third behind Hamilton, who had started from 10th, and Verstappen to help Mercedes stretch its slender lead in the constructors' standings to 11 points.

“The start was quite tricky. I’m a bit disappointed with the start and the first lap but I tried," said Bottas. “Afterwards the pace was actually quite okay. I thought we could have done a one-stop quite easily but we decided to do a two-stop.

“I’m glad we could get more points than Red Bull and [from] Lewis, it was an amazing drive. He was in his own league today.”

An early virtual safety car to clear debris from Mick Schumacher's front wing allowed Bottas to pit and jump Perez in a move that ultimately secured the final podium place.

Praising his rare moment of good fortune, Bottas added: “The VSC was in a good place for me for once so I was happy with that but still solid points.”

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