He had pulled a 3.8-second lead on Hamilton by the time Mercedes stopped the world champion on lap 15 in response to Vettel's early pit stop a lap before. Bottas carried on for another 10 laps before his stop, and by the time he rejoined he was more than 12 seconds ahead of Hamilton. Hamilton and Vettel's strugglesThe five-time champion was already complaining about his tyres, saying he was concerned they might not last the race. They did, but he was out of the fight for the lead. Hamilton had Vettel within two seconds of him after Bottas' stop, but the German was soon under pressure from Verstappen, who like Bottas had delayed his first stop.

Source: The Star March 17, 2019 10:18 UTC