Bottas admits he held back Lewis Hamilton as he overtook Verstappen
Valtteri Bottas refuses to see himself as Hamilton's wingman or « Wingman », or in other words a driver at the service of the reigning world champion. The sequence at the Spanish Grand Prix when Bottas refused to let Hamilton pass easily after his second pit stop speaks volumes about the Finn's aspirations.
Mercedes’ strategic gamble at the Spanish Grand Prix could have turned into a failure when Valtteri Bottas, on worn tires, refused to let a fresher Medium-tire clad Lewis Hamilton pass. The Finn’s on-track decision could have cost Lewis valuable seconds in his frantic pursuit to catch Max Verstappen, his direct competitor this year for the world championship title.
If the maneuver, seen on camera, could have cast doubt on Bottas’ good faith, the latter admitted to refusing to let his teammate pass. Yes, I received the message, but I was in a battle with Charles (Leclerc, Ed. Note) and I couldn’t afford to lose time explained Valtteri Bottas to explain the reasons that led him not to let Lewis Hamilton pass.
On his side, the Briton does not hold it against his teammate and did not even know that Bottas had received a team order to let him pass. “I think we are good teammates, honestly I didn’t know he had been instructed to let me pass, I thought we were racing each other. I can understand especially at such an early stage of the season,” said Hamilton to express his feelings about this on-track episode.
Fortunately for Mercedes, Lewis managed to pass and also overtake Max Verstappen. For Toto Wolff, the final result of the race does not make us forget the somewhat selfish behavior of Valtteri Bottas. Although he claimed to understand Bottas who was having a tough race, the Finnish driver made a decision that could have been critical and costly for the team. The director of the Mercedes F1 team promised to discuss this behavior with Bottas in a relaxed atmosphere and that he would continue to support both his drivers.
If Mercedes can rely on both of its cars to maximize its result, this is not yet the case for Red Bull. Perez, still learning, is not able to match the level of his Dutch teammate and therefore cannot lend a hand on track against the Silver Arrows. And we know that the patience of the energy drink on this subject is somewhat limited…
