The team orders issued by Mercedes at Sochi, one where Bottas made way for Hamilton has been talked about at length post the race.
All the involved stakeholders have presented their views about the incident, with everyone echoing that the team orders needed to be imposed in order for the team to benefit as a whole.
Now, during the race, Bottas was informed that there was some blistering on Hamilton’s tyres and hence they had to be swapped, as Vettel was breathing down his neck.
The Mercedes team today released a video explaining the blistering that had occurred on Hamilton’s tyre, a video that did not go down well with a lot of the fans.
Check out the video:
Tyre blistering… it’s something @LewisHamilton suffered during the race. But, why was this the case and just how bad was it? 🤔
Answering your questions and queries from the #F1 weekend in our #RussianGP 🇷🇺 debrief 👇 pic.twitter.com/zMnhxc5b1E
— Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) October 2, 2018
None of the other drivers suffered any kind of significant blistering and thus this one fan in particular thought that the video was just a way to re-emphasise the radio messages to Bottas about the blistering that Hamilton’s tyres had suffered.
Really blistering? Hamilton sure looked to be suffering @MercedesAMGF1… Thieves and cheaters!
— Martin Strümpfer (@MartinStrumpfer) October 2, 2018
Mercedes came up with a reply about both the blistering and the accusations about cheating.
Yes, blistering. It’s all explained in the video!
As for the last part, what did we do to cheat? The calls we made aren’t illegal and while difficult to make, were done for the right reasons.
— Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) October 2, 2018
Another fan spoke about how it was morally wrong to take the win away from Bottas, with Mercedes coming with the same response about how it was necessary because of the strategy and the tyre blisters.
Ur correct it wasn’t illegal but also wasnt moral, maybee bottas shld have done a seb (multi 21).
I remember Toto saying there allowed to race, I’ve given u a hard time but let’s win both championships with fairness to both drivers.— Alan Mörris (@Fokmisterutd) October 2, 2018
They’ve always been allowed to race until one of them isn’t in title contention, and then you have to look at the situation and make the appropriate calls to get the most points
— Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) October 2, 2018
I agree with what u day if there was a 10 point gap but 40 points gives some buffer to have allowed valtri a shot. Lewis wld have prob passed him anyway Wen max came in.
Enough negatively some good tracks left where the Ferrari cld struggle and desperation leads to mistakes.— Alan Mörris (@Fokmisterutd) October 2, 2018
But you can never have enough points when you are fighting for a title. Anyway, let’s see how the final five races go, fingers crossed they’re in our favour but you never know!
— Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) October 2, 2018
Are you guys trying to justify something or is it just my impression?
— Roberto Fratelli (@rfratelli) October 2, 2018
We’re doing what we do after every race, which is explaining what happened from our point of view and being transparent and open about why we did things.
— Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) October 2, 2018
Still trying to justify your degrading treatment of @ValtteriBottas .
VB lacks the courage, integrity, and will to win of Rosberg.— Barry Deacon #FBPE 🏴 (@ShieldJock) October 2, 2018
Nothing to justify, we’re simply explaining our decisions, which we stand by. It was a tough call to make but we did it for the right reasons. As for Valtteri, he has courage and integrity in bucket loads, and is one of the most determined, focused and ambitious people we know
— Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) October 2, 2018
