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Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas Secure Podium Finishes in the F1 Styrian GP

Today, the race was on in Austria as 20 of the world's fastest drivers lined up for 71 laps of the Red Bull Ring. Once again, Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton showcased why they're still on top of the game, although they had difficulties keeping up with the faster Red Bull car driven by Max Verstappen.
Podium finish for both Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Drivers in the Styrian GP 13 photos
Photo: © Jiri Krenek for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas Secure Podium Finishes in the F1 Styrian GPLewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas Secure Podium Finishes in the F1 Styrian GPLewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas Secure Podium Finishes in the F1 Styrian GPLewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas Secure Podium Finishes in the F1 Styrian GPLewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas Secure Podium Finishes in the F1 Styrian GPLewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas Secure Podium Finishes in the F1 Styrian GPLewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas Secure Podium Finishes in the F1 Styrian GPLewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas Secure Podium Finishes in the F1 Styrian GPLewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas Secure Podium Finishes in the F1 Styrian GPLewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas Secure Podium Finishes in the F1 Styrian GPLewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas Secure Podium Finishes in the F1 Styrian GPLewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas Secure Podium Finishes in the F1 Styrian GP
Max Verstappen started the race in P1 and couldn't be bothered to move from that spot up throughout the duration of the race, as he was the first driver to get the chequered flag. But Mercedes-AMG Petronas drivers were right on his tail, with a solid performance from both Lewis and Valtteri. Lewis started the race in P2 and didn't allow anyone to disturb his rhythm, as he equaled Michael Schumacher's record for most P2 finishes in the history of the sport—43 in total!

Valtteri Bottas put on a strong performance as well, as he had to start the race from P5. He fought to stay ahead of Perez throughout the final moments of the race and just managed to clinch P3, some 11 seconds behind his teammate. Still, given the results of the day, Red Bull continues to lead the Constructors' Championship with a total of 252 points, while Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 is 2nd overall with 212 points. In the meantime, McLaren Mercedes is in 3rd, with Ferrari not far behind in 4th.

Lewis Hamilton is 2nd overall in the championship right now, clinched between both Red Bull drivers, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. Talking about today's race, Lewis mentioned that "I was trying to keep up with the Red Bull but with the speed they have, they have obviously made some big improvements over the last couple of races and it was impossible to keep up."

Valtteri Bottas is rather far behind in 5th overall, 82 points behind the leader of the series. However, because he improved his qualifying result, he is most likely satisfied with the outcome of the race, even though the top spot on the podium would've brought him closer to the championship title: "From where I started, I think we maximized the race - starting from fifth and finishing third was a decent result. There was not much left in my tires at the end, today was more like rallying in Finnish Lapland than F1 in Austria!"
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About the author: Dragos Chitulescu
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The things Dragos enjoys the most in life are, in no particular order: cars, motorcycles, diecast cars, and drifting. He's seen (and driven) many vehicles since he started his writing career back in 2009, but his garage currently houses a 1991 Mazda RX-7 FC3S Turbo II and a 1999 Suzuki SV650-S.
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