With around ten laps to go in the German Grand Prix, turned topsy-turvy by a rain shower over Hockenheim, Valtteri Bottas believed he had a chance at victory as he stalked Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton in a car that had the better pace at that point of the race.
After a safety car period late in the race Bottas was tucked under the wing of Hamilton's car, ready to pounce, but the dream of adding to his three Formula 1 victories was soon scuppered as the team's strategist James Vowles came over the radio and ordered:"Valtteri, it's James. Please hold position, I'm sorry."
Bottas duly obliged and followed his teammate over the line to claim a famous one-two for the Silver Arrows on home soil and in front of the Merc big brass. Turning the tables on Ferrari was not expected after a troubled qualifying for the team 24-hours earlier.
Credit to the quiet-spoken Finn for not making a big fuss about it, while his teammate did nothing immediately after the race to acknowledged that Bottas had, in fact, gifted him the race victory.
Bottas, whose contract was renewed ahead of the race weekend in Germany, took it on the chin and said afterwards, "As a driver a win is what we are after, when Seb went off I think there was a good chance. Taking positives, as a team it is a perfect result for us."
"We had a bit of a battle lap one after the safety car, I didn't get past and I got told to minimise the risk but I understand," added the Finn whose effort helped Mercedes take the lead in the championship standings ahead of Round 12 in Hungary next weekend.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff explained the reasoning behind the orders, "We didn't have the quickest car and we need to prepare for the next races. It was still raining at the time and the fight was so intense. With the bad luck we had, we didn't want to take chances."
On the day, Ferrari were first to issue team orders when they instructed Kimi Raikkonen to allow teammate Sebastian Vettel to get by unchallenged but in the end to no avail as the German crashed out while leading.
For Mercedes, a one-two on home soil, against expectations, was priceless and also meant a healthy haul of points which sees Hamilton top the drivers and Mercedes take the lead in the constructors' standings ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Round 12 of the championship, next Sunday
Big Question: Did Mercedes do the right thing to contain Valtteri and allow Lewis to win unchallenged?
https://www.grandprix247.com/2018/07/22/raikkonen-you-want-me-to-let-him-go-please-just-tell-me/
loading
Latest News
Loading
