Wolff denies 'team orders' now in play
- Published on 23 Jul 2018 09:14
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- By: Jeroen Jonkers
Toto Wolff has denied that team orders will characterise the rest of Mercedes' 2018 season.
At Hockenheim, as Lewis Hamilton executed a stunning recovery to win from far down the grid, teammate Valtteri Bottas was asked during the race to hold station behind him.
Asked if Bottas will be the number 2 for the rest of the season, Mercedes boss Wolff answered: "No.
"The most important thing in formula one is racing.
"We've always said that if we get to the last quarter of the championship with one of the drivers having a big advantage, then we could take some unpopular measures.
"But the time for this has not yet come," Wolff insisted.
"Today we used team tactics so that both cars were guaranteed to finish. As I said, if Valtteri had been leading, we would have made the decision in his favour."
Finn Bottas said he "understands" the decision. "It's part of the job," he said.
"We are allowed to drive freely," Bottas added. "But in modern formula one, you have to be a lot faster to overtake, and the conditions were already treacherous.
"So it didn't make sense for the team to take unnecessary risks. I'm not upset about it."
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Replies (10)
Login to replyKyalamiKid
Posts: 146
BS!
Bottas was way to obliging with his " copy that James "
Contracted as no2 driver - wouldnt be surprised if re-signing Bottas was a condition for Ham before he signed his.
boudy
Posts: 1,168
Agree. It most likely they will not let him race with Ham. Although I can't remember when Bottas actually has done an overtake on a top team driver on the same strategy during anything else than a race start. Also I wonder why it took so long for HAM to sign up.
The end result is the same since Bottas is not no1 material because he's too obedient/compliant.
Both Ferrari and Mercedes have an very similar setup in that respect. It's soul destroying to have this as an option in your contract
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
So they totally didnt ask Bottas to stay behind Hammy in Hockenheim, and Wolff would never, ever ask Ocon to let Hammy padt in Monaco?
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
I think the Ocon incident in Monaco was a big deal. This? This is just people whining about nothing. Nobody ever complain when other teams do blatant orders. But for some reason for Mercedes it's a different standard. It was a risky situation, mixed conditions, and Lewis clearly had some pace. But anyway, irrational hatred and whining about drivers and teams is part of being an F1 fan isn't it?
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
The Ocon incident is indeed a way bigger thing. Im surprised the FIA didnt step in there. But the problem isnt that the Bottas thing happened. The problem is Wolff uttering blatant team orders, to both his own drivers and others, and then says "oh I'd never use team orders!". Not that I expect more from Mr. Wolff nowadays, the Ubisoft of F1.
KyalamiKid
Posts: 146
Nothing to do with irrational hatred. Toto says there are no Team Orders to get Ham to win the title, I am saying that is BS and I dont understand why they want to make us believe that. I m pretty sure Ham would not have gotten the call to stay put (and if he had gotten it, he would not have answered with ' Copy James ' )
He is the no1 driver, Bottas no2, and they will enforce team orders where needed, and that s fine (not saying I like it, but it s their business) , just dont try and play cool, by saying your drivers can race freely.
Rindtchamp
Posts: 304
Yeah sure Toto, do you really think we are that stupid?
You CLEARLY gave him an order to hold position when he was threatening goldenboy. Don't lie!
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
I don't think anyone is arguing that it wasn't a team order.
RogerF1
Posts: 501
I think Merc and Ferrari have now forgotten this sport is called ‘motor racing’, the clue is in the 2nd word. Kimi had to do the same but at least he made them say it.
Wonderful race from LH, I say that begrudgingly, he came over the line 1st but he didn’t win the race. Poor form, another nail in the coffin because now we are getting engineered races. It also appeared tyre change strategies be8ng made to deliberately favour one driver over another. ,
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
This applies to most of the teams in F1 mate, and it was always this way.