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Hakkinen: Bottas providing better support than Raikkonen

Hakkinen: Bottas providing better support than Raikkonen

07-09-2018 11:50

One of the biggest criticisms of Ferrari after the Italian Grand Prix was the fact that their drivers did not work together to achieve the best result, whereas the Mercedes duo supported each other to achieve the best result, culminating in a double podium.

Sebastian Vettel is in a title fight with his Mercedes counterpart Lewis Hamilton, and many people have noticed the way their team mates went about helping them on Sunday.

Kimi Raikkonen blocked Vettel off the start line, looking to boost his own race chances, whereas Bottas accepted a compromised strategy to hold up Kimi Raikkonen during the midpart of the race.

It was a differing approach from the two Finns, and something that another Finn has noticed.

Mika Hakkinen won two world titles with McLaren in 1998 and 1999 and knows what it’s like to have a supportive team mate, sharing the team with David Coulthard.

Hakkinen believe that Hamilton’s lead in the drivers’ standings, now at 30 points is partly down to the support he is receiving from his team mate.

He wrote in his Unibet column: “He benefits from having a fantastic team partnership with Valtteri Bottas.

"From the moment the lights went out at the start, it was clear that Ferrari had two drivers racing each other whereas at Mercedes they worked together.

"It was a mistake of leadership and strategy on Ferrari's part not to sit down with Kimi and Sebastian on Saturday night and plan how to run the race."