Pained Bottas says Mercedes team orders made sense

Vettel loving life with revived Ferrari

MANAMA, April 17, (RTRS): Valtteri Bottas felt the pain of Mercedes team orders for the first time at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday but said he accepted they made sense in the circumstances.

The Finn had started on pole position, a career first, but tyre pressure problems at the start and a general lack of pace left him struggling to challenge Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel after the German had taken the lead.

Twice Bottas let triple champion team mate Lewis Hamilton through to try and take on Vettel, an attempt that ultimately proved in vain as the Briton ended up second and Bottas third.

“As a racing driver it’s maybe the worst thing you want to hear. That’s how it is,” Bottas, who joined Mercedes in January as the replacement for retired world champion Nico Rosberg, told reporters.

“When I heard the call initially, for me it made sense. He seemed to have a bit more pace and the gap between me and Sebastian was getting bigger and Lewis was putting pressure on me behind.

“I completely understand the decision from the team to request that, and of course I did it. I did it for the team even though it didn’t feel good for me personally.”

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said such orders were “a call you don’t like to make”, with the team’s two drivers officially assured of equal terms and treatment despite their track records.

Hamilton has won 54 races while Bottas, who was previously at Williams, has yet to triumph.

Wolff said a failure to react could have cost Mercedes any chance of winning the race and that was the motivation for the call, rather than favouring one driver over the other. Bottas said he had received reassurance about that afterwards.

“We just had a chat about it and the team again explained all the reasons,” he said.

“It didn’t work out today, it didn’t make a difference if me or Lewis was ahead for the team points but Lewis had a better chance today to battle for the win than I did because I was struggling for pace.”

On his way to winning Sunday’s

Vettel

Bahrain Grand Prix, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel found his mind wandering already to next week’s first in-season Formula One test and how much he was looking forward to it.

The four-times world champion, now seven points clear of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton after winning two of the first three races, is enjoying his best start to a season since his dominant 2011 Red Bull campaign. That year he also won two of the first three and went on to take his second title.

The German, who did not start in Bahrain a year ago in a season that Ferrari completed without a win, is having the time of his life again and relishing the battle with Mercedes.

“The last half of the in-lap (after the finish) when all the fireworks were there and track was lit up, it was ‘I just love what I do’. I didn’t find any words,” he said.