Mercedes to extend Bottas’ contract
Team boss Wolff calls decision ‘no brainer’ with Finn having won two GPs and podiumed in eight
>> MONZA: Valtteri Bottas has been assured he will keep his seat at Mercedes for at least another year.
“It is a no brainer to continue with Valtteri,’’ Mercedes head of motorsport Toto Wolff said on Friday at the Italian Grand Prix.
The 28-year-old Bottas joined Mercedes on a one-year contract after Nico Rosberg suddenly retired, just days after winning the Formula One title last season.
The Finnish driver has posted two wins and eight podium results this season and sits third in the drivers’ standings, 41 points behind leader Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari and 34 points behind teammate Lewis Hamilton.
Wolff dismissed speculation that Bottas still needed to prove himself, saying “we are very happy with Valtteri.
“He had some very good moments, like in Sochi, and he had more difficult races like in Spa,’’ Wolff added. “We want to keep him in the team. It is just down to contractual situations, mailing it and signing it. Hopefully we can do this.’’
Wolff also pointed to the positive relationship between Bottas and Hamilton, who have a far better working relationship than the often tense one between Hamilton and Rosberg over the past three years.
“The dynamics between the drivers is important,’’ Wolff said.
Bottas, who was previously with Williams, led Friday’s second practice.
Felipe Massa’s future at Williams remains unclear with deputy team principal Claire Williams saying the team’s focus for the remainder of the season should be on securing fifth place in the constructors’ standings.
“We’re going to wait and see,’’ she said when asked about the driver line-up.
The 36-year-old Massa changed his retirement plans to return with Williams this season.
Meanwhile, Hamilton paid tribute to Princess Diana on Friday by penning a poem in her honour a day after the 20th anniversary of her death.
Hamilton posted the poem, which he called “England’s Rose”, on his Instagram account.
The sparsely punctuated poem starts: “The day we lost our Nations Rose, Tears we cried like rivers flowed, The earth stood still, As we laid her to rest.”
The poem bears a passing resemblance to Elton John’s song “Candle in the Wind”, which he performed at Diana’s funeral in Westminster Abbey in 1997.
Hamilton, 32, illustrated the tribute with several photographs of the princess alongside the Van Morrison song “Into the Mystic”.
Diana was killed in a car crash in a Paris road tunnel on August 31, 1997.
In a separate tribute on Twitter, Hamilton acknowledged the anniversary with a quote often attributed to the Princess. “I don’t go by the rule book,” he wrote. “I lead from the heart, not the head.”
In another development, Force India told their duelling drivers Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon on Friday that they can race “responsibly” in this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix.
The spectre of team orders was in the air in the warring Force India garage after the duo’s rivalry resulted in a series of clashes and crashes.
But after Perez and Ocon held clear the air talks on Thursday their team have decided to let them race freely in Monza.
Deputy team chief Bob Fernley told reporters that days of discussions had ensured that Mexican Perez and French rookie Ocon understood the expectations and had accepted them.
“From a team point of view, we’ve got to make sure fourth place [in the constructors’ championship] is secured,” he said.
“It’s very important for the team and, from their point of view, they need to make sure they keep their reputations intact because there’s a future for them beyond Force India — for both of them.”
Both men have been linked with other teams and it was expected that their rivalry — culminating in two collisions at last Sunday’s Belgian race — would have to be muted by the introduction of team orders.