“I need to take one for the team”– Valtteri Bottas ready to follow team orders to boost Lewis Hamilton’s title bid

“I need to take one for the team”– Valtteri Bottas is ready to take orders from the team so Lewis Hamilton’s gets a better shot at his eighth title.

Lewis Hamilton is only five points away behind Max Verstappen in the championship battle with eight more races yet to go. Any slip up for either driver could end up being costly, so both teams would be strategizing to take minimal risks.

Valtteri Bottas, who is confirmed to leave Mercedes after this year has pledged to assist his partner to achieve his eighth successful bid on the title, as he claims he would follow team orders to boost Hamilton’s chances on the title.

“We have discussed many things internally, including different scenarios,” said Bottas, who will join Alfa Romeo in 2022 and be replaced at Mercedes by George Russell.

“Every race is always different. There could be times that we need to play as a team, and I need to take one for the team. At this situation, how the situation is, yes, I would do it,” he added.

“Because we’re here as a team and really need to make sure that we win both titles, not only the constructors’ but also drivers. At the moment, Lewis has the greater chance for that, so that’s the situation now at the moment.”

Russia 2018 was different

Three years ago, Bottas was at the lead position to grab his win in Russia, but on lap 25, he was instructed to let Hamilton pass by, who was vying for the title back then too.

Bottas was flabbergasted with the team decision but allowed Hamilton to overtake. The Finn had his vengeance last year by winning the Russian GP 2020 and now thinks that in 2018 things were different than today.

“That’s a few years ago, but at least now I can be fine with things,” Bottas said. “At that point, yes, it was painful. And for me, it was hard to accept.”

“But we’ve obviously moved on since, and also I’ve grown a lot since. Things are a bit different now.”

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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