Valtteri Bottas receiving team orders from Mercedes was probably the highlight of the day from Sochi(apart from Max Verstappen’s drive).
A lot has been spoken since about the team orders, with Bottas, Hamilton and Wolff addressing the media behind the rationale and the need to go ahead with it.
Proud of our team for a 1-2 here in Russia. I always want to win in the right way and want to acknowledge Valtteri. He did an incredible job this weekend and the team made a tough decision. We have to embrace the moment still and we move forward to Japan @MercedesAMGF1 #RussianGP pic.twitter.com/fR0irA7XLQ
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) September 30, 2018
“We finished 1-2, we have a 50 point advantage and that feels good on a day that has otherwise been very difficult.”
More from Toto 👉 https://t.co/CVUWA2lznz #RussianGP pic.twitter.com/Nhm4lvnbb9
— Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) September 30, 2018
Bottas was visibly upset with what had transpired but echoed the reasoning of Wolff and Hamilton that the step had to be taken for the team.
Hamilton and Wolff both showered praise for Bottas as the Finn had been a real team man today, one that respected the team strategy as opposed to his personal interests.
Raikkonen, who too has largely played Vettel’s wingman role this season was asked about how Bottas could get over this incident and if it would sap his confidence going into the final 5 races of 2018.
Kimi was empathetic towards Bottas and advised him to get over it with a few beers.
“It’s not ideal but that’s the way it goes in life. You can’t do much.” he said.
“No idea, maybe with a few beers.” he added.
#Kimi7 about Valtteri Bottas having to give up his win: “It’s not ideal but that’s the way it goes in life. You can’t do much.”
Asked how a driver can motivate himself for the next race after such a situation, Kimi says: “No idea, maybe with a few beers.” 😂
— Verena (@miezicat1) September 30, 2018
