Turkish Grand Prix: Valtteri Bottas wins as Max Verstappen retakes title lead

Valtteri Bottas won Turkey's Grand Prix in second place, while Max Verstappen took the championship lead.
Lewis Hamilton finished fifth. He disagreed with his team on the radio about their decision to make a pit stop late for tyres, which dropped him from third.

Hamilton is six points ahead of Verstappen with six races remaining in this season's championship.

Red Bull's Sergio Perez finished third on a tight race on a slippery track. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was fourth.

These tyres will not wear out

Hamilton stopped in the pits for a tyre replacement when he was running in third. He eventually finished fifth.

Bottas led a dominant Mercedes race to win his first season's title. He was comfortably ahead of Verstappen who could not take advantage of the wet track to challenge him.

Hamilton started 11th, but was penalized for using too many engine parts. He moved up to third after a strong drive, impressive overtaking moves and a desire to keep the race going on the same set intermediate tyres he used to start the race.

Hamilton refused to be called into the pits by Mercedes, who feared that his tyres would drop off in the final laps, leaving him vulnerable to Pierre Gasly, Perez and Leclerc.

With eight laps remaining, Mercedes finally ordered Hamilton to come in, but Hamilton ran into issues with his new tyres. He vented his frustration over the radio, fighting to keep Gasly from losing places to Perez, Leclerc, and Gasly.

Hamilton stated, "We shouldn’t have come into, man." Hamilton said, "I have huge graining. "I told you."

Hamilton would have been only one point behind Verstappen if he had been able to keep third place.

Given the conditions, the race was uneventful with very few spins

Ferrari was faced with a similar dilemma when dealing with Leclerc.

After Verstappen and Bottas stopped to change their intermediate tyres, he moved into the lead with just 20 laps remaining. He initially tried to stay in front until the end.

Bottas passed the Ferrari with 11 laps remaining, as the Ferrari's tyres began to wear down.

Hamilton tried to keep going, believing he could stay ahead of Leclerc or Perez for the final podium spot, but Hamilton was overruled by his teammates. Mercedes believed that Hamilton's tyres wouldn't make it to the finish because of this stage.

After Hamilton, Gasly was sixth. He was followed by McLaren's Lando norris and Ferrari's Carlos Sainz. It was impressive to move up from the back after taking a penalty due to a new engine.

The top 10 were completed by Lance Stroll from Aston Martin and Esteban Ocon of Alpine, who were the only drivers to remain out without pit stops.

Driver of the Day

This was a difficult call with strong drives from Hamilton, Perez, Leclerc and Sainz. Bottas was a formidable frontrunner and did the exact job Mercedes required.

What happens next?

In two weeks, the US Grand Prix will be held in Austin, Texas. Hamilton has enjoyed a number of strong drives at this track, which is one of his favourite tracks. He is optimistic about his chances of taking the Circuit of the Americas championship lead.