The success of Valtteri Bottas in Turkey it was not only important for the Finnish driver – who had not climbed the top step of the podium since the Sochi race in 2020 – and for Mercedes, which thus increased their lead in the constructors’ classification over Red Bull. On a statistical level, in fact, the victory of the native of Nastola at Istanbul Park crowned the sixth different winner in just 16 GP. Certainly unusual news for F1 which in the hybrid era – from 2014 to today – had never gone beyond five different winners. Six winners had not been seen since 2012 – considered by many to be one of the best years ever – when eight different riders climbed the top step.
Actually, curiously, this year has already come close to equaling that number. In fact, two of the races won by Lewis Hamilton – in Great Britain and Russia – were ‘snatched’ by the seven-time world champion in the final laps, when Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris were respectively in command. Not to mention the Monte-Carlo race, won by Verstappen, in which Leclerc himself had to give up a start from pole position. THE four different teams capable of establishing themselves – in addition to Mercedes and Red Bull, Alpine and McLaren have also won one race each – represent an ‘equal record’ (2020) for the hybrid era.
The Ferrari. The redhead is missing a victory from 2019, but in Turkey the progress favored by the team was evident new power unit. With a little luck in one of the last six races, one between Leclerc and Sainz could try to enrich this season’s winning series. In the hope that the long-awaited change of regulations next year does not paradoxically end up breaking this balance.