Hamilton: It’s not easy being my teammate

In a review of the year on his team's website, Hamilton said of Bottas, “He’s been an incredible teammate. It’s not easy being my teammate but it’s also not easy being his team-mate because he’s very, very fast, he’s very quick and he’s continuing to get faster and faster.

“I’ve been here six years, this was only his second year, and he really keeps me on my toes,” added Hamilton who won 11 times last season while his teammate did not win once.

Bottas might have won in Russia but an over-cautious Mercedes team ordered he move over and hand victory to Hamilton, but beyond that, he was hardly ever a match for his teammate in qualifying and race conditions.

After 21 rounds, the score was 408 points to Hamilton at the top of the standings and Bottas on 247 in fifth place. It was a hammering.

If there is a flaw at all on his road to the title, Hamilton's Sochi inheritance would be it, not that he made a mistake but more that he was handed a win by a team staunchly behind his effort to bag the title, a decision that ultimately proved to be wholly unnecessary.

Hamilton agreed and does not seek a repeat, “It was the right decision to make but ultimately, in the end, we didn’t need to have that day. But I think it was an important day in the sense of how we come together."

"It was really awkward. When I got the call that Valtteri was going to let me by, I can’t remember exactly, I think I said something like: just tell him to speed up. I think in the race I was quicker, in qualifying he was quicker.”

“I remember seeing him pull over and I continued by. It was a hard day for Valtteri but I think he was fully respectful and a real, great team player. It’s not ever the way I’ve ever wanted to win and I don’t think any driver wants to win that way."

"Coming across the line I [was] very conflicted because if I think with my heart then I would have had it the other way but in life and in competition you’ve got to seize the moment, you’ve got to take it as it comes and you’ve got to seize it when you have the opportunity."

“If you put your feelings first you might not come out where you planned if that makes sense. The team had taken the decision and even though I really wanted, the whole rest of that race, you just let him back by, I took the decision to stick with what the team had chosen to do," explained the World Champion.

Facts are, at Mercedes right now, Hamilton has the upper hand on all fronts with Bottas a clear number two or, to put it bluntly, the world's best wingman.

Michael Schumacher showed what can be achieved with a compliant teammate or wingman whose role is simple: to be Schumi's Number Two. It worked well for him as his seven F1 titles testify.

History shows that this is the ideal and most effective way to win Formula 1 titles, putting the chunk of resources and energy behind the best bloke and the other guy does what he is told, no questions asked.

Red Bull did it with Sebastian Vettel during their heyday together, now they are doing it with Max Verstappen. After Schumacher's golden era Ferrari continued the strategy, first, with Fernando Alonso and with Vettel until now.

Alonso had a similar status during his double title-winning years at Renault and, in fact, took offence when he arrived at McLaren in 2007 and had shared status with (at the time) rookie Hamilton. We know how that turned out.

In 2008 with McLaren's full focus on Hamilton, he did the business when he claimed the first of his five titles.

Nevertheless, he is clearly uncomfortable of inheriting victory as he did that afternoon in Russia, “I really hope that there’s never a scenario like this again."

"By this point in the year the team were like: We’re going to do everything to make sure, Lewis is now so far ahead you can’t catch him in the Championship so now we’ve got to start supporting him to make sure we tie up both Championships."

“Neither Valtteri nor I sit in the room saying we want cars reversed, we just want to go out there and earn the position and race for it. Ultimately Valtteri was quicker that weekend and deserved to win," was Hamilton's final take on the matter.

https://www.grandprix247.com/2018/12/24/bottas-i-was-crying-like-a-small-baby/