Breaking news
Formula 1
Mercedes to push back team orders "as far as possible"
Mercedes sees no need to impose team orders in its Formula 1 championship battle yet, and will hold off for as long as it can in making a decision to introduce them.
Jonathan Noble Matt Beer
Edited: Sep 5, 2018, 12:12 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The team had said ahead of the Italian Grand Prix that it would decide after the race whether or not it made sense for Valtteri Bottas to be moved into a support role to help Lewis Hamilton.
But with Hamilton opening up his world championship advantage with victory at Monza, on a day when Bottas was able to help his teammate without wrecking his own race, Mercedes is happy to keep things as they are.
Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff said: “I don’t really like team orders, they are not cool and not good for the sport, and they are not good for either driver.
“Lewis doesn’t want to have anything gifted and Valtteri doesn’t want to give anything up. We are looking at it from race to race.
“We discussed it [on race morning], various scenarios and there was no necessity and we will see what happens in Singapore. I want to push that moment back as far as possible.”
Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes AMG F1 W09, leadsKimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF71H, and Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 W09, as he locks up
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images
Hamilton’s victory at Monza owed much to Bottas disturbing Kimi Raikkonen’s run at the start of the second stint.
Bottas is realistic about his chances for this season, and says that he is already open to helping Hamilton when it makes sense – like it did at Monza.
“It wasn’t really like I was sacrificing my race, as long as I was keeping Kimi behind,” he said. “If he overtook me then for sure I would lose time.
“But knowing the fact that just a little bit earlier maybe would have been ideal for me to stop, I was happy to do it, because I knew I would still get a chance to attack [Max] Verstappen, so I don’t think we really compromised my result. That’s all good.
“Honestly, the points difference between me and Lewis is now very big, so I’m willing to cooperate when it makes sense. We are here as a team and we need to be realistic. The team wants to win both titles, so that’s how it is.”
Hamilton is now 30 points clear of Sebastian Vettel in the championship, with Raikkonen and Bottas 92 and 97 points off Hamilton respectively.
Vettel had been racing Raikkonen, who had beaten him to pole, for the lead on the first lap when he made contact with Hamilton and spun.
Asked if Ferrari had discussed how to handle the start, Vettel replied: "No, I think we are old enough and we don't need to go through the start.
"I'm doing my job and I'm prepared to race everybody.
“I was trying to use my chances in the first corner, a little bit in the second chicane, but it didn't work. Then it was a bit unfortunate with how things turned out.
"Everybody's free to have whatever approach they want. For us it's pretty clear and straightforward."
Pushed further on whether he felt he was at a disadvantage because he had to fight his teammate and Hamilton did not, Vettel retorted: "I don't know. Obviously I can see the points of the questions coming up.
"But for me it's pretty clear: I'm happy to fight three cars, I'm happy to actually fight 19 cars.
"I think I've never been in a different position to that. That's fine. I don't expect anything else."
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF71H making contact with Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 W09 and Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF71H leads the race
Photo by: Manuel Goria / Sutton Images
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Whiting unmoved by Verstappen's 'killing racing' jibe
Next article Michelin could "recreate a tyre war" as F1's sole supplier
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jonathan Noble
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
Formula 1
Formula 1
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Formula 1
Formula 1
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
More from
Valtteri Bottas
Cadillac’s F1 brakes are still a problem: ‘I had to lift and coast on lap two’
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
4 h
Cadillac’s F1 brakes are still a problem: ‘I had to lift and coast on lap two’
Valtteri Bottas completes three-day jungle ride to Singapore GP: "Your mind starts to play games at night"
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
Valtteri Bottas completes three-day jungle ride to Singapore GP: "Your mind starts to play games at night"
You Ask The Questions: Valtteri Bottas
Formula 1
Canadian GP
You Ask The Questions: Valtteri Bottas
More from
Mercedes
‘I’ll put a pillow under his butt’ – How Toto Wolff wants to solve Kimi Antonelli’s track limits problem
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
‘I’ll put a pillow under his butt’ – How Toto Wolff wants to solve Kimi Antonelli’s track limits problem
George Russell calls Red Bull "the team to beat" in F1, but Kimi Antonelli adds a key caveat
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
George Russell calls Red Bull "the team to beat" in F1, but Kimi Antonelli adds a key caveat
Latest news
Five key takeaways from F1's big African Grand Prix reveal in Rwanda
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 48 min
Five key takeaways from F1's big African Grand Prix reveal in Rwanda
Niels Koolen makes switch to Abel Motorsports ahead of 2027 Indy NXT campaign
Indy NXT
IndL Indy NXT 2 h
Niels Koolen makes switch to Abel Motorsports ahead of 2027 Indy NXT campaign
GT World Challenge Portimao: All you need to know about season finale featuring Max Verstappen
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance
WCEE GT World Challenge Europe Endurance 2 h
GT World Challenge Portimao: All you need to know about season finale featuring Max Verstappen
13 Autosport retains unchanged lineup for 2027 IMSA campaign, eyes global expansion
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 3 h
13 Autosport retains unchanged lineup for 2027 IMSA campaign, eyes global expansion
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe