Horner: "It's obvious that Mercedes favours Hamilton"

With the dominance of Mercedes, there are realistically only two drivers who can become World Champion this season. Mercedes have often shown in the past that if they treat their drivers equally, an exciting title battle can then arise. However, Christian Horner does not expect this to happen.

Valtteri Bottas has not been a match for teammate Lewis Hamilton in recent years, but even if he had been this season, Horner thinks the Finn would not have had a chance to win the world title. Hamilton has to be Mercedes' champion this year and that's why they're putting him ahead this year, Horner said.

Spa clear example of Hamilton's lead

"It's obvious that Mercedes favours Lewis," Horner said according to ESPN. "You see it on strategy, the positioning of the cars and so on. Why wouldn't they have put Bottas on a two-stop, for example, in Spa [at the Belgian Grand Prix last weekend]? That would have given him the opportunity to win the race."

"The problem is that everything is geared towards Lewis this year on his record-equalling campaign. The reality for Valtteri is that unless he qualifies ahead, he hasn't got a chance."