Sebastian Vettel says he is “very happy” to see Vaᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚltteri Bottas claim his first Formula 1 race victory in over a year at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. 

Bottas took three wins during hi𓄧s maiden season with Mercedes before a tough winless campaign followed, but he bounced back with an emphatic performance in Australia to seal his first victory since t🐽he 2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The Finn, who now leads the drivers’ championship for the first time in his career, had vowed to return with a stronger mindset for 2019 and promised to become a 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:“better version” of himself.

Asked if he had noticed a change in Bottas since last season, Vettꦿel replied:🅘 “I like him. I’m very happy for him. He’s a very decent guy. 

“I don’t think he’s any differen🅰t, I think he always had the speed. Obviously last year didn’t go well for him for many reasons but I was very happyꦗ to see when I was told that he won the race. 

“Obviously he was far away, straightaway, far away from us, which is not good news for us. But he’s a nice chap so I’m really happy and ple🌳a💞sed for him today.” 

Despite being tipped by many as the early favourites headiꦿng to Melbourne, Ferrari struggled to match Mercedes throughout the weekend, ending up 0.7s down on Lewis Hamilton’s pole time before both cars finished nearly a minute behind Bottas on Sunday. 

Vettel made a relatively early pit stop in Ferrari’s attempts to gain position but struggled to keep up with his rivals in the second stint and was passed by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen before settling for fourth, just ahead of new tea𝄹mmate Charles Leclerc. 

“The whole second stint, on the med🌳ium tyres wasn’t very strong,” Vettel admitted. “The first stint I was fairly happy. 

“So at this point as I said I’m not sure why but I’m sure there’s a reason so we need to get a little bit deeper and hav💮e a good lo🐷ok. But clearly there was something going on.

“I didn’t have the same trust and feel in the car that I’ve had in the first stint so I was struggling with overall pace throughout the second st🦩int and obviously at the end I was struggling really with tyres. 

“Ar🥂guably yes, we were a little bit early in the box, on the other hand there were people stopping at the same time as us that didn’t struggle that much in the end. So I don’t think it’s the strategy to blame, really.”

Vettel added he was confused by Hamilton’s lack of race pace as he finished 20s adrift of Bottas. Mercedes later revealed the reigning 𓂃world champion’s performance had🐓 been hampered after sustaining floor damage. 

“I don’t know what Lewis was doing, he was probably bored and not happy that he lost the start,🍃” Vettel said. 

“I think it’s not the first race when he’s doing something just to go around. He was just playing at that point a🙈nd I was told also on the radio that he was complaining about the 𓃲tyres.

“But I think he made it quite safel𒆙y to the end so maybe he wasn’t t🌳oo happy driving from that point onwards.”