Bottas made a sluggish start from pole position, allowing Lewis Hamilt🐽on and Max Verstappen to make it three-wid🐽e on the run down to Turn 1.

Settling into third behind Verstappen and Hamilton, Bottas was hit b🐲y Ricciardo into Turn 1, spinning him around and dropping him to the back of t🔜he grid.

It was a difficult race for Bottas from then on as he was unable to make his way through the field, eventually finishin🌌g in 15t𒊎h.

“Yes, very, very tricky and for me quite compromised by the first corner incident,” Boಞttas said.

“He [Ricciardo] really ru൲ined my day today but I’m sure he didn’t do the initial hit on purpose, it compromised his race as well, but he was not ideal for my race today.

“Then I was stuc𓂃k behind cars that I couldn’t pass. I was also quite limited with the engine and the tyre temperatures, so I couldn’t attack for many laps in a row, so I had to go back and forward and couldn’t find a way to progress.”

Bottas spent the best part o✨f 40 laps stuck behind Ricciardo after the pair stopped for repairs under the Safety Car.

Reflecting on the battle with Ricciard♒o, Bottas said: “Yes, it was tricky. Obviously they have the same power unit we have, they have good straight-line speed and he was defending well. I just couldn’t find a way past him.”

H𒊎e was then called in with a few laps to go to take the fastest lap off Verstappen which ensured Mercedes remained top of t♛he F1 constructors’ championship.

When Mꦉercedes initially stopped Bottas, he came out behind race lea🌼der Verstappen, who deliberately backed off to stop him from stealing the fastest lap.

Mercedes stopped him agai⭕n, dropp♏ing him behind George Russell to ensure that he got it.

“Yes, it wa🔯s difficult to find a good traffic window for the fastest lap an🍸d, in the end, it worked perfectly well with George, I actually had DRS from him, even after Turn 3, so it was all about trying to find a gap,” he explained.

“With Max, for me it was fine. The team told me I could overtake, I🎉 got past him, then I got blue flags again, so it was a bit messy.”