“I wasn’t allowed anymore for the contention”– Valtteri Bottas reveals he was not allowed by Mercedes to contest for this year’s title.
Valtteri Bottas is in his final few weeks with Mercedes, as he has been announced to depart from the Brackley based team and join Alfa Romeo next year.
In the last five seasons with Mercedes, Bottas has aspired for a championship win, but he never got preferred over Lewis Hamilton. In his recent statement, he reveals that he wasn’t allowed to give a shot at the title even this year.
“I don’t know really, I need to ask [Mercedes team principal] Toto [Wolff],” Bottas told reporters in Sochi, after getting P1 in FP1, and was asked whether he would be allowed to compete for a win.
“At least earlier in the season, I felt like I wasn’t allowed anymore for the contention, but you never know. We go race by race. I think in Formula One you just never know how the season will progress. There is still a fair amount of races, so never say never.”
“For me personally, coming here is different, so the only thing that’s in my mind is winning. That’s the only thing that matters to me and at least that is my approach for this week.”
Bottas, in the end, has conceded to his secondary role in F1 and earlier this week told the media that he would follow the team orders to assist Hamilton in his pursuit for the eighth world title.
The maximum advantage in Russia
Max Verstappen has taken an engine penalty this weekend, meaning he will be starting the race from P20 and giving Hamilton an excellent opportunity to gain maximum out of this week’s result.
Thus, Bottas may have to leave space for Hamilton for the win and give him the maximum advantage over the Dutchman.
