Bott🎃as made a sluggish start from pole position, allowing Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen to make it three-wide on the run down to Turn 1.

Settling into third behind Verstappen and Hamilton, Bottas was hit ♐by༺ Ricciardo into Turn 1, spinning him around and dropping him to the back of the grid.

It was a difficult race for Bottas from then on as he was unable to make 💖his way through the field, eventually finishing in💎 15th.

“Yes, ver𒊎y, very tricky an🐠d for me quite compromised by the first corner incident,” Bottas said.

“He [Ricciardo] really ruined my day today but I’m sure he didn’t do the initial hit on purpose, it compromised his race a🌳s well, but he was not ideal for🍒 my race today.

“Then I was stuck behind cars t⭕hat I couldn’t pass. I was also quite limited with the engine and the tyre temperatures, so I couldn’t attack for many laps in a row, so I had to go back and forward and couldn’t find a way to progress.”

Bottas spent the best part of 🥂40 la🔯ps stuck behind Ricciardo after the pair stopped for repairs under the Safety Car.

Reflecting on the battle with Ricciardo, Bottas said: “Yes, it was tricky. Obviously they have the same power unit ♕we have, they have good straight-line speed and he was defending well. I just couldn’t find a way past him.”

He was then called in with a few l🥂aps to go to take the fastest lap off Verstappen which ensured Mercedes remained top of the F1 constructors’ champi🐬onship.

When Merce𒁃des initially stopped Bottas, he came out behind race leader Verstappen, who deliberately backed off to stop him from sওtealing the fastest lap.

Mercedes stopped him again, ⛦dropping him behind George Russell to ensure that he g💛ot it.

“Yes, it was difficult to find a good traffic window for the fastest lap and, in the end, it 𒐪worked perfectly well with George, I actually had DRS from him, even after Turn 3, so it was all about trying to find a gap,” he explained🌟.

“With Max, for me it was fine. The team to🐓ld me I could overtake, I got past him, then I gᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚot blue flags again, so it was a bit messy.”