That Mercedes has a good second-in-command in Valtteri Bottas has long been clear. Ahead of the Russian Grand Prix, the 32-year-old Finn stressed once again that that is still the case, and that he wants to do everything he can to help Lewis Hamilton in his title battle with Max Verstappen.
Bottas admits that Mercedes have discussed different scenarios regarding team orders with him, and that he is willing to sacrifice himself to help the team. "As the situation is now I would do that, because we are here as a team and we want to win both titles, not just the constructors'," he says in conversation with Motorsport.com.
Painful team orders for Bottas in Sochi
So he is willing to help his teammate in his fight with Verstappen. "At the moment Lewis has a better chance of winning the drivers' title, so that's the situation now", he continued. Looking back at the 2018 Russian Grand Prix, in which he had to sacrifice his win for Hamilton, Bottas says that was a different situation.
"At the time that was painful, and for me it was hard to accept. But we've put that behind us, and I've grown myself since then. Now everything is different," concluded the Mercedes driver.