RACINGAWARDS 2019
HOWYOUVOTED
ValtteriBottasJapan 7.9%
MaxVerstappenAustria 7.6%
MaxVerstappenUSA 5.2%
LewisHamiltonUSA 4.1%
KimiRäikkönenUSA 3.4%Ferrarithoughtithad this race in the bag.
But, like so many times this year, it quickly lost
its advantage.After a streak of nine races,
SebastianVettel had finally outqualified his
team-mate CharlesLeclerc and the pair locked
out the front row of the grid at Suzuka. Then,
just before the five red lights blinked out,
polemanVettel creptforward, and then stopped.
That hesitation distracted his rivals – but not
Valtteri Bottas.Starting third on the grid, Bottas
reacted brilliantlyto the lights disappearing and
leapfrogged bothFerraris beforeTurn 1.
It was a significant moment, not onlyfor the
race, but alsofor Bottas’s season. The Finn
converted his electric start into victory and
was ableto keep the championship challenge
alive going into the North American double-
header. The result also sealed Mercedes’ sixth
consecutive constructors’ title.The FIA investigated the start, butVettel
wasn’t penalizedfor his indiscretion because
the governing body allows atolerance of
movement on the gridfor clutch adjustments
or for putting the car intogear.
Bottas later revealed it was the best start
of his life: he reactedto the lights in 0.04s.
It was almost as quick as his legendary 2017
Austrian GPgetaway, when he effectively
anticipated the lights disappearing as he
accelerated off the line.
“The race start helped a lot, it was thekey for
getting into the lead on that kind of track [where
it’s difficultto overtake],” said Bottas. “My
reaction time was rather quick,four-hundredths
of a second, so maybemy best so far.”
When asked whether that amazing reaction
time was superhuman, Bottas replied with a
modest smirk: “Yes.”92 F1 RACING JANUARY 2020START OF
THE YEAR
ValtteriBottas
Mercedes
TheJapaneseGrandPrix
“Sebastian made thatfalse start
which helped me a little bitto
sense the lights going off. It was
my best reaction sofar, reallyspot
on, and still fully legal whichwas
the main thing. Itwas neededto
get that race win as we all know
how difficult it is to ove rtake in
Japan and that allowed meto
control the race. Itwas key for
that victory and without that
perfect start, it would have been
very difficultto win it.”