Valtteri Bottas secured a 26 point victory at the Australian Grand Prix and Mika Hakkinen believes it will do the wonders for his self-confidence after the Finn secured the bonus point after getting the fastest lap of the race.
Bottas overtook teammate and defending champion Lewis Hamilton, on the first lap and never looked back as he secured his first win since the 2017 season. Bottas also got an extra point for setting the fastest lap of the race despite team orders to be careful with Max Verstappen set to take the bonus point.
Hakkinen believes the Mercedes driver will have received a huge boost of confidence following his impressive win: “Valtteri put Lewis Hamilton under pressure in qualifying and showed the perfect start, mind you on the dirty trackside, and then he was never seen again by the competition.
“He could not have done better in the GP year.
“That must be a huge turbo for his self-confidence.
“Bottas also made it clear on the radio that he wants to catch the extra point for the fastest race lap, and that's exactly what he did,” he added.