SOCHI, Russia -- Mercedes non-executive chairman Niki Lauda says he's never seen a driver withstand as much pressure to win their first Formula One race as Valtteri Bottas did to win the Russian Grand Prix.
Bottas had to hold off a late charge from Sebastian Vettel, who set up a thrilling final four laps by closing up to within DRS range of the Finn. Despite the huge pressure in the closing stages Bottas held firm to become F1's 107th race winner, something Lauda believes deserves enormous credit.
"It surprised me a lot because it's his first race victory under these difficult conditions with Vettel in a better combination behind him," Lauda said. "He did a fantastic job.
"I've never seen anyone like him, under this pressure, win his first grand prix. He can't do a better grand prix."
When asked how important it was for Bottas to finally win a race, Lauda replied: "The most important because as soon as you win the first grand prix then a big load comes off, because you work all your life for winning a race."
By contrast to Bottas' stellar drive on Sunday, teammate Lewis Hamilton had an uncharacteristically messy weekend, having struggled with the handling of his car from the start of Friday practice. Hamilton himself said after the race he needs to go "back to the drawing board" ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix and Lauda thinks it simply came down to his level of comfort with his car's set-up from the weekend.
"Lewis couldn't get the car going very simple. He never got into the tyre window, he was sliding around and could not get it going. But this was already foreseeable from Friday onwards. The reason why, we have to analyse and find out why... [It was] a combination of car not quick enough for his driving style."
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