Bottas finished almost 21 seconds ahead of teammate, five-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, to claim his first Australian Grand Prix in the Formula One season opener.

It marked his fourth career win and first since December 2017.

To boot, he earned an extra championship point for the fastest lap at Albert Park.

The flying Finn leads the standings on 26 points ahead of Hamilton (18), Red Bull's Max Verstappen (15) and Ferrari's four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel (12).

Suddenly he is the man to catch ahead of the second round, March 31's Bahrain Grand Prix.

What a difference a few months makes.

Bottas felt so low after finishing a distant fifth in the 2018 standings without a single win, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff admitted the driver got on the drink.

"He said he got drunk a few times to forget," Wolff said.

Bottas' mood was no doubt not helped by speculation claiming Mercedes would replace him with reserve driver Esteban Ocon if he did not produce in 2019.

Bottas admitted he started at "zero" when he arrived at Albert Park this week.

But he emerged a hero after laying down the gauntlet to Hamilton in a boilover win.

He would have been tempted to again reach for a drink when reminded of his 2018 Australian GP campaign, where he crashed out in qualifying after hitting the wall at turn one, starting 15th on the grid.

Bottas recovered to finish eighth in the 2018 opener but it set the tone for a luckless season.

"It has not been the best track for me honestly. I have felt I have never had a great qualifying or race here for some reason," Bottas said.

However Bottas ended his hoodoo with the stirring win after a lean run at Melbourne where his best result was third back in 2017.

Australian Associated Press