Feels like a well-earned victory: Bottas

Max Verstappen finished second and took the lead in the championship

Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas scored his first win of the year in the Turkish Grand Prix in Istanbul and was a happy man for it.

"It was probably one of the best races I've had ever – apart from that one little slide – everything was under control. The car has been fantastic in every possible condition this weekend and I had great confidence with it," he said after the race.

“It's not easy to choose the strategy here with these conditions - when to stop, which tyre to choose - but I'm glad everything went smoothly for me. When there's only one drying line it doesn't take much for you to go off, you need maximum focus all through the race and so today feels like a well-earned victory. My first win of the year too which feels great and I was happy to bring it home. It also took points off Red Bull so great for me and the team," he added.

Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez finished second and third respectively.

Verstappen said: “As a team, to finish second and third here was a great result. It was a pretty straightforward race and I think in general we had a decent day. The race was all about managing tyres, to make sure they lasted to the end which means it wasn’t the most fun race to drive as you always want to push hard.

“Nevertheless, I think we maximised the result and it’s good to be leading the drivers’ championship again. I do wish I had a bit more pace in the car but we are still in the fight, we’ll keep pushing and we’ll see in the coming races how competitive we will be," he added.

Perez said: “This podium is very special because it was not an easy race for me, it was hard and exhausting at times, so I am very happy this evening. It has been a while since I have been up there, I think the last two or three races we should have been on the podium, but we have been so unlucky. I got a good start, I think there was some contact between Fernando and Pierre into turn one so there were three cars, including me, and I thought we weren’t going to make it but, in the end, it was a good result for me.”

Verstappen leads the points table with 262.5 points, while Mercedes driver and reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton is second with 256.5 points. Bottas has 177 and in fourth place is McLaren Mercedes driver Lando Norris on 145 points.