Bottas accepted without flinching the Mercedes team order
Second at the finish, the Finnish driver didn't threaten Hamilton for long at the end of the race, a direct consequence of a message from his race engineer.
Valtteri Bottas has been circling around for some time. Even this Sunday, the ex-Williams driver was not far from victory. Second on the grid, the Finn stayed at an acceptable distance from Vettel, though never able to challenge him. He could still have taken advantage during the German’s crash on the 53rd lap. The main party involved had just a hint of luck before, taking advantage of the backmarkers to pass Räikkönen.
But Bottas was the unfortunate guinea pig for Mercedes, entering the pits in a rush to switch to a new set of ultra-softs to make it to the finish. Due to his mechanics’ mistake, he lost a first place that was promised to him! On the restart, the Finn appeared threatening to his quadruple world champion teammate. The confrontation didn’t last long, and Bottas fell back in line after a message from his race engineer, James Vowles: “please, hold your position,” adding to his driver: “I’m sorry.”
Speaking to journalists after the finish, Valtteri Bottas still admitted that he understood such an instruction.
« With Lewis, we had a great battle on track during the first lap after the Safety Car, » summarized the 28-year-old driver.
« I couldn’t take it. I was asked to minimize the risks. I completely understood. »
Competitor, Valtteri Bottas still can’t hide a hint of frustration.
« As a driver, of course, a win is always what you’re looking for. When Seb went off the track, I thought it was my chance. But the safety car came out at the right timing for Lewis. Let’s keep the positive for the team, it was a perfect result for us, on Mercedes’ home soil. »
The Finnish Mercedes driver thus secures another second place, his fifth of the season! Astonishing fact: Valtteri Bottas has never stepped on the first or third podium spot in /f1/actualite/22847-allemagne-course-renaissance-pour-hamilton-catastrophe-pour-vettel-.html. At least he justified his team’s decision to keep him for 2019.
The justification of Toto Wolff
The team principal of the Silver Arrows was keen to explain his team strategy. Its foundation? The lack of pace of Mercedes compared to Ferrari! The Austrian boss was still wary of the surviving Ferrari, Räikkönen’s. Worse, Toto Wolff wanted to impose the directive even earlier, before the restart.
« We don’t have the fastest car at the moment. It was still raining and the fight was intense between our drivers. With all the bad luck that has befallen us in the last races, we wanted to calm things down. And all that bad luck turned into good luck. That’s what makes me happy! »
Despite the fear, Toto Wolff is ultimately a happy man this Sunday evening. But the Mercedes team still has work to do to avoid ceding their driver and constructor titles to Ferrari.
You don’t need to ask @ValtteriBottas twice with a chance like that!! 💪#GermanGP 🇩🇪 #VB77 pic.twitter.com/J5jWbpYxvr
— Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) 22 juillet /f1/actualite/22847-allemagne-course-renaissance-pour-hamilton-catastrophe-pour-vettel-.html
