Verstappen gets in Bottas' way while trying to set the fastest lap

Max Verstappen was busy keeping a mind on the fastest lap point during the race. To Helmut Marko's annoyance, Verstappen tried to hold off Valtteri Bottas in his attempt at the fastest lap. This worked out pretty well the first time.

Verstappen caught the two Mercedes cars at the start and then disappeared into the horizon. At the end of the race, he was able to focus on other things. He was curious to see if Sergio Perez could make an attack on Lewis Hamilton, but he also noticed that Bottas was doing a fast lap. Verstappen wanted to avoid this.

With a lead of almost 20 seconds, Verstappen could take some margin and so he let himself fall back. In the last sector of his fast lap, Bottas got behind Verstappen. The Dutchman also 'braked' in the stadium section, forcing the Finn to step off the gas and forget his lap.

To stay away from Verstappen, Mercedes brought Bottas in again. He got an old set of softs under his car and got one more chance at the fastest lap. In free air, he managed to do so. He didn't get the point because he drove outside the top ten, but this way the point didn't go to Verstappen either.