F1 results 2017: Valtteri Bottas wins Austrian Grand Prix, plus full finishing order

Valtteri Bottas had a beautiful drive to go from pole to first place at the Formula One Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday. The Mercedes driver had an incredible start and led the entire race, save for a short bit after his first pit stop.

Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari essentially ran his own race in second place, with Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull well behind him and Bottas well ahead of him. Ferrari did try to keep Kimi Raikkonen out long enough to potentially hold up Bottas following the first round of pit stops, but Bottas easily passed Raikkonen to retake his lead after his stop.

Vettel ended up second on the podium, with Ricciardo on third. Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes started in eighth due to a third-place qualifying and a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change, and he ended up making his way up into fourth place, ahead of Raikkonen, to earn 12 points.

Hamilton trailed Vettel by 14 points in the Drivers’ Championship going into the weekend and he did his best to limit the damage. Bottas was in third and has improved his own chances of mixing it up with Vettel and his teammate.

Vettel and Hamilton got within a second of Bottas and Ricciardo on the final two laps, and it was a breathtaking finish, but all four held their positions.

Bottas got a great start, and was in no danger from getting passed by either Ferrari. Romain Grosjean of Haas also had a surprisingly strong start, making a pass on Raikkonen, as Ricciardo did the same thing.

Max Verstappen started in fifth, but he ended up in last place after he was hit by Fernando Alonso of McLaren on the first turn. Alonso was hit by Daniil Kvyat of Toro Rosso, prompting the hit to Verstappen. Both Alonso and Verstappen had to retire from the race.

It’s Verstappen’s fifth retirement in seven races and once again, it was no fault of his own.

Raikkonen did eventually pass Grosjean back on Lap 3, while Vettel came across the team radio and suggested that Bottas jumped the start. Bottas was being investigated by the stewards and by Lap 6, Hamilton made it past Sergio Perez of Force India. Two laps later, Hamilton moved up into fifth place with an easy pass of Grosjean.

Kvyat earned a drive-through penalty for the Turn 1 incident. By Lap 26, the stewards confirmed that Bottas did not jump the start, and at that point in the race, Bottas was nearly eight seconds clear of Vettel in second.

On Lap 30, Kevin Magnussen suffered a car issue and quickly found himself at the back of the pack as his team came over the radio and told him not to shift as he brought the car back into the garage.

On Lap 32, Hamilton came into the pits to fit the ultra soft tires, the first of the front-runners to do so. He had a big gap on Grosjean behind him and did not lose any places due to the stop. Next was Ricciardo and then Vettel, with Bottas and Raikkonen staying out.

Botas finally came in on Lap 43, and he had a slow stop. He ended up behind Raikkonen, who had yet to pit. A lap later, Bottas passed Raikkonen to retake the lead with the super soft tires able to carry him through to the end of the race.

Hamilton set a fastest lap of the race on Lap 59, and was gaining on Ricciardo in third at that point. Perez came over the team radio saying that rain had started to fall, briefly. Vettel brought himself within two seconds of Bottas on Lap 65, and Hamilton was about a second back of Ricciardo.

With two laps to go, both Vettel and Hamilton were in DRS range of the cars ahead of them. Neither managed to make the pass, though, and the thrilling race came to an end.

Below is the full finishing order for Sunday’s race.