Wolff against Bottas: the nut of discord at Mercedes
A disastrous Grand Prix for Mercedes in Monaco which could well hide much deeper discomfort within the team. Following a disastrous pit stop that led to Valtteri Bottas's retirement, Mercedes is pointing the finger at the Finnish driver as being responsible for this damaging episode.
For Mercedes, this start to the season is a bit more eventful than previous ones. The team, accustomed to dominating the discussions in the race for the title, both for drivers and constructors, is facing a well-established Red Bull team this year. Lewis Hamilton has managed to stand out in the first four Grand Prix of the season, Valtteri Bottas cannot say the same. Far from it, even.
As if Hamilton was not a big enough obstacle, here comes Max Verstappen getting involved and coming between the Mercedes. Not the slightest win for Bottas yet. This situation has led to unusual scenes for the German team in the first races of this season.
In Bahrain, Bottas had to watch, from a 37-second gap, the top two drivers, separated by seven tenths. At Imola, on a wet track, his crash with Russell didn’t help his image. Everyone was wondering what he was doing fighting with a Williams. In Barcelona, and for the first time, Bottas clearly refused to let his teammate Lewis Hamilton pass, even though he was on a different strategy and in a battle for victory. The Finn’s radio was certainly heated!
As misfortune never comes alone, Valtteri Bottas fell victim this weekend in Monaco to a problem with the front right wheel nut. An unusual scene that still required the car to be sent to the factory to extract the tire from the car. At first glance, this incident appears to be pure bad luck, or an unusual failure in motor sport. During the post-race debrief, the Mercedes team clearly blamed driver number 77.
VB's car is back home. Cheers for all the helpful suggestions but we’ll take it from here! 💪 pic.twitter.com/41E4GDRbQh
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) May 27, 2021
« Valtteri stopped his car a little too early. The mechanic had to use the gun at an angle. This angle damaged the nut and we couldn’t remove it anymore » said Toto Wolff in a press conference after the Monaco Grand Prix. This explanation was confirmed by James Vowles, Mercedes’ strategy director.
The series of underperformances for Bottas must certainly accelerate the reflection for the driver duo in 2022 at the current world champions. And the rumors, although brushed aside by Valtteri, about his possible replacement by George Russell, do not help matters. Is a war brewing between Valtteri Bottas and Toto Wolff?
In the meantime, Mercedes continues to fight on another front against Red Bull regarding the flexible rear wing that would give a significant advantage in the straight line to the Austrian team. It is safe to say that at Mercedes, the 2021 season is shaping up to be very eventful.
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